


Merging Pathways

by EternitySword3



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ba Sing Se, But their friends think so, Character Death, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Minor Original Character(s), Slow Burn, Sokka (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, except not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 158,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24720109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternitySword3/pseuds/EternitySword3
Summary: Zuko was the enemy. That much had been obvious to Katara from the moment he had attacked her village. But when she finds herself trapped with him after the Siege of the Northern Water Tribe, she finds herself questioning who he really is, and if he really is the enemy she thought he was, while he comes to question his own enmity with her. Post season 1. Zutara. Not exactly a capture fic.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Sokka (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Toph Beifong, Azula & Katara (Avatar), Azula & Mai (Avatar), Azula & Ty Lee (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Jet & Katara (Avatar), Jet & Longshot & Smellerbee, Jet & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Iroh (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Mai & Tom-Tom (Avatar), Mai & Ty Lee (Avatar), Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Sokka & Yue mentioned, Sokka/Suki (Avatar), the gaang - Relationship
Comments: 128
Kudos: 448





	1. Part 1 Chapter 1: Day Four

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Zutara fic. If you hate Zutara, please refrain from commenting about how much you hate this pairing. Nobody is forcing you to read this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1: There Is No War On a Raft

Katara was slow to wake that morning, and even slower to wake to awareness. She danced between dreams and reality, scents and sounds shifting and mixing as she laid. Her dreams were strange, but each time she began to stir and think about how much she probably should get up and prepare breakfast for the others ( _Tui and La, I have to teach Sokka how to cook eventually. And how to sew. Aang, too. What would they ever do if something happens to me?_ ), the next moment she would slip back into slumber. Even though Katara was wearing her parka, she still felt a chill in the air, enhanced by the breeze brushing against her ( _Appa must be going really slow…usually the wind feels much faster when Appa flies_ , she thought, before drifting off to sleep again).

At one point, Katara began to awake again, but she was broken from a dream and did not wish to get up just yet. She felt more than a little tired−she was exhausted, depleted of energy…she hoped she wasn't getting sick again. The experience with the frozen frogs had been really annoying…and really disgusting. But, to her knowledge, Sokka and Aang were both fine, so even if she was getting sick, it wouldn't be as much of a nuisance as the last time. Rest would be the most important thing.

And Katara drifted off again.

The next time Katara began to wake up, awareness came more than the previous times. Her head hurt, though it was only a dull pain. She could feel the movements beneath her, gentle bumps and sways that would leave the unacquainted feeling nauseous. She could smell the salt water. She could hear the water…why would Appa be in the water?

At once, the memories of the past several weeks came back to her−finding the Northern Water Tribe, fighting with Master Pakku, learning waterbending…the siege…the moon spirit…

Katara was fully awake and aware now, and she opened her eyes, sitting up. Looking forward, all she saw was the ocean, beautiful, blue, and, as far as she could see, never-ending. She turned her head to look to her left.

Her eyes widened and she leapt up to her feet, assuming the best waterbending stance she could on the swaying raft, muscles feeling tired still. "You!" she shouted at the Fire Nation Prince who had, until then, been sitting and facing away from her. Hearing her get up, the scarred prince had begun to stand up and turn to face her−but before he was fully standing, Katara had blasted him off the raft with a powerful stream of water. She allowed herself a small smirk−the firebender's surprised shout, combined with the splash of him falling into the ocean had to be one of the most satisfying sounds Katara had ever heard.

"Zuko!" Katara turned to see the old man that had often accompanied the Fire Nation prince. She prepared to fight him, but memories tugged her hands down.

_"Whatever you do to that spirit, I will unleash upon you tenfold! LET IT GO, NOW!"_

The old man, despite being Fire Nation (and a general, at that), had tried to protect the Moon Spirit from Zhao. He had even attacked several of the Fire Nation soldiers present. He had been the one to realize that Yue could save them all. Perhaps, Katara considered, the old man wasn't so bad.

Then again, he had been with Zuko as he chased them from one pole to the other. And he was, apparently, a general. He had probably helped mastermind the attack, along with many others. Just because he hadn't wanted Zhao to kill the Moon Spirit, didn't mean he was trustworthy. All it really meant was that he wasn't crazy enough to think that _killing the moon_ was a good idea. Katara raised her hand as she saw the old man move, but he went right past her, apparently entirely unconcerned by the waterbender that had just thrown the prince off the raft. He only cared about getting to the edge, where the prince had grabbed onto. Katara watched him pull the hot-headed prince back onto the raft.

Whereas the old general didn't seem bothered by her, Prince Zuko was clearly furious. Katara saw him glare at her as he stood up, sopping wet, and literally steaming as he pulled his hands into a fist. Katara only returned his glare, and with a graceful movement of her wrists, pulled another stream from the ocean, ready to fight him again. He, in turn, took a stance, and prepared to strike.

Before either of them could make a move, the old man stepped between them, putting his hand on Prince Zuko's shoulder. "Enough. This is not the time or the place for a fight."

To Katara's surprise, Prince Zuko actually hesitated, and looked to the old man as he spoke. "I'm not starting it− _she_ attacked _me_!"

Katara opened her mouth, intending to snap back at him, but the old general was already speaking.

"Of course she attacked you−her past experiences with us have hardly been pleasant. Waking up here and seeing you must have been quite the shock. She was probably terrified, and reacted to a perceived threat." Katara wanted to deny that, wanted to tell the firebenders that she wasn't afraid of them…but they did scare her. She had seen how easily fire could snuff out lives. She had seen what fire left behind. They did scare her−but she could take Prince Zuko. She didn't know about the old general, but they were in the middle of the ocean. If it came to a fight, she had an overwhelming advantage.

But it didn't look like it was going to come to a fight. Katara was slightly amazed as she watched the old man talk to Zuko. One thing she knew about Zuko was that he tended to just charge forward, never giving up on his pursuits, and he would quickly instigate a fight. But he seemed to respect the old man, and after a few words, the Fire Prince just clenched his fists, and came out of his stance. Instead, Zuko just crossed his arms and avoided looking at her.

The old general turned to Katara, who was still holding the water up, prepared for a fight. He put his hands up in a peaceful gesture, and even offered Katara a smile. He took a step towards her. "We aren't going to fight you. It would be foolish and senseless. Foolish, because the environment gives you an unquestionable advantage. Senseless, because, for now at least, we are not enemies. We are all lost on this piece of driftwood. We should be cooperating to survive and find land."

Katara eyed him for a moment, and then dropped the water, though her posture remained tense. She still glared at Zuko, who was too busy sulking to notice her.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced," the old man said, strangely cheerful. "My name is Iroh. Zuko is my nephew."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding. You're prince hot-head's uncle?" She could hardly believe it−over the past couple minutes, the old general had increasingly proved himself level headed, friendly even. Katara could hardly believe that he could be related to Zuko.

But the old man just smiled even wider and nodded. "And what is your name?"

Katara hesitated. They may be stuck together on this driftwood, but they were still Fire Nation (Fire Nation royalty, at that). Still, it was just her name. What was the worst thing that could happen from her giving them her name? "Katara. My name is Katara."

"Katara. That's a lovely name. A lovely name for a lovely girl." Iroh was smiling kindly towards Katara and after a moment's hesitation, she decided to return it. He didn't seem so bad. Maybe, at least, he could keep his nephew in line. "And you've met my nephew, I believe."

Katara's small smile slipped and her eyes hardened as she looked at the Fire prince. "Yeah, we've met. You know, when he attacked my village. And when he stole my necklace and tied me to a tree. When he paralyzed my brother and I to use as bait−" Katara stopped and her eyes widened. It felt like a puzzle piece had just fallen into place. She felt so stupid for letting her guard down, even for a moment. Of course there was a plot. "That's what this is, isn't it?! That's why I'm here−you've kidnapped me again, trying to use me as bait!" How did not immediately see it?

Zuko looked up from his sulking. "What?" His tone was indignant and shocked. Then his eyes narrowed and he was clearly angry again. "You seriously think I wanted you here? That I wanted to be stuck with you, in the middle of the ocean?! How stupid do you think I am?!"

"Pretty stupid!" she snapped back. Then she stepped back into a waterbending stance, thinking Zuko would attack her for the insult. Instead he just made a face, clenched his fists, and let a stream of fire escape from between his teeth as he growled.

"I should've let you drown!" he shouted, as he turned away and sat back down on the raft, facing away from her.

She heard Iroh let out a sigh, shaking his head. It occurred to Katara that he must deal with Zuko's attitude every day. He looked up over to her, and gestured to the other side of their raft. "I understand why you would assume that you are our prisoner, but I assure you that that is not the case. We have no power now. As I said before, we are drifting on this raft, hoping to find land…we have no need for a prisoner."

Katara hesitated. She looked over to Zuko. He had denied that she was a prisoner−in fact, he seemed to hate being stuck with her as much as she hated being stuck with him. But if that was the case…

"How…did I get here?"

Iroh sighed, frowning lightly. "You were hurt. Zuko found you, and saved you." Katara's eyebrows shot up, and Iroh began to explain.

* * *

**Four Days Ago**

Zuko ran through the canals of the Northern Water Tribe. He knew he had to get out, and quickly−Zhao had already angered the Ocean Spirit, and now that the moon had returned, the Water Tribe's warriors would undoubtedly be on a warpath. Zuko had seen the Ocean Spirit lay waste to the fleet, but there were still other firebenders who had already been in the city, and Zuko could hear them fighting. He heard some of them shouting, ordering a retreat. That would be the smartest thing to do−by now, they were outnumbered, surrounded by the waterbenders' element, on the night of a full moon. But Zuko couldn't retreat. Not until he found his uncle. The entire plan had blown up in his face, like everything else in his life. He'd made it into the city easily enough, undetected. He hadn't been too surprised to see the Water Tribe Peasant; she'd been with the Avatar in nearly every encounter they'd had. Zuko had, admittedly, been surprised by how skilled she was. He knew she hadn't been that good any other time he'd seen her. She must have found a master, and taken well to the teaching. Once again, Zuko thought of Azula. That peasant girl was just like her…he had trained for years and years, and she managed to fight (he refused to call it defeat) him after mere _weeks_ of training.

Zuko felt it before anything happened. A chill passed through him, like a warning, and he heard a small groan as the ice beneath his feet started to crack and pull back. He turned around to see that a large gathering of waterbenders standing on a tall wall, working in synchronization as they performed some sort of waterbending move…a move that would be incredibly powerful with so many waterbenders working together on a full moon. After a few short moments, Zuko realized what they were doing. He only had a second to take a breath before he was underwater. Agni, help him. He'd been submerged in the freezing arctic water before−but then, at least, it had been by choice and he'd had some warning. This time, he was helpless, underwater, and being carried away in a great wave. A couple of times, Zuko felt large chunks of ice scrape by, or even hit him. Leaving some parts of the wave frozen had undoubtedly been a conscious decision−whether they died from being hit with ice, drowning, or just the freezing cold, there would be no firebenders left in their city. But Zuko was stronger than anyone thought−he'd survive.

Finally, the wave slowed down and came to a stop. Zuko eagerly reoriented himself and swam to the surface. He gasped for air as soon as his head was out of the water, he sat there breathing for a few moments, catching his breath, and then breathed a bit of fire out…the water was terribly cold, and Zuko could feel pins sticking into him, everywhere.

He had to get out of the water.

"UNCLE!" he called out. "UNCLE!"

"Over here, Zuko!" Zuko turned around and saw Uncle Iroh, paddling his way over on what looked like a large piece of driftwood. Zuko let out a small sigh of relief…thank Agni Uncle Iroh was okay. As Zuko began to swim over to Iroh, however, another figure floating in the water caught his eye. Blue…Water Tribe? Had those waterbenders accidentally blown away one of their own? Zuko swam closer to the body and stopped swimming as he saw the familiar braid and bun. It couldn't be…

The water peasant. The Avatar's friend−she had gotten caught up in the wave? To think, just minutes before Zuko had been thinking of how the spirits must favor this peasant over him. Now he had survived an attack that had undoubtedly killed many of his countrymen, while the waterbender was killed with her own element.

Except that dead people don't cough. Eyes widening, Zuko reached over and touched her neck…yes, there was definitely a pulse. She was alive, she had also survived the great wave…but she was unconscious, and now that he was close to her, he could see that one spot on back of her head seemed to shine a different color. Blood. So she had miraculously survived the wave, but had probably hit her head on one of the chunks of ice within the wave.

So what was he supposed to do now? Zuko frowned. She wasn't really his concern. In fact, she was his enemy. Somehow, he doubted she'd even appreciate being rescued by him. But then…he couldn't just leave her. She was alive−but there was no way she would survive long alone out here. In the moonlight, Zuko could see that she was paler than usual, and her lips appeared to be turning blue in the icy water. Zuko couldn't leave her out here to die. Zuko recalled how, earlier that night, he had offered his hand to Zhao even after everything that man had done. Zuko just couldn't stand by and someone die…not when he could help. He blew a bit of fire between him and the girl, and used his hands to heat her body a little as he pulled her towards his Uncle raft. He let his uncle pull him up onto the raft, and out of the icy water. Nodding his head towards the Water Tribe girl, he spoke. "She's alive. Help me pull her up."

* * *

Katara felt an increasing amount of shock as Iroh relayed the night's events to her. How she had probably gotten caught up in the attack…and how _Zuko_ of all people had rescued her. The story made sense, though she could not remember much from her last night in the Northern Water Tribe. Which, in itself, made sense, given Iroh's description of her head wound. Now that she thought of it, she could feel the slight tightness of a cloth bandage tied around her head. The ache made sense, as well. She took a deep breath as it occurred to her just how close she had to come to death…and who had saved her. As much sense as the story made, Katara could hardly believe that part of the story that Iroh had told her.

"Zuko…saved me?" she murmured. Iroh nodded in confirmation, smiling with what looked like pride. Katara blinked and looked over to where Zuko was still sulking. "He's never really seemed like the rescuing type." Recalling that Iroh was Zuko's uncle, and clearly held a lot of affection for him, Katara quickly added, "Not from what I've seen, at least."

But rather than be upset, Iroh just smiled serenely and said, "You've only seen the worst of my nephew…only seen his rage and frustration. But please believe me when I say that there is good in him. Much goodness." For the first time since Katara had woken up on the raft, Iroh's expression fell, becoming rather downcast. "It is only hidden."

Katara pondered his words as she looked over to Zuko. There was good in him, Katara supposed. She couldn't really deny that−after all, he had rescued her from the icy water, had used his firebending to help her warm up. He didn't have to do that. In fact, some people would probably say he shouldn't have done that. They were enemies. But he still saved her life, even though it did nothing but make things more frustrating for him. However, that still didn't mean much−he had still attacked her village; attacked the Kyoshi warriors' village; taken her necklace; and who knows what else. Not to mention his downright rabid hunt for Aang. He clearly didn't care who he had to hurt to capture the Avatar…the world's last hope for peace. Katara's expression became stony as she looked at the Fire Nation prince. He may have saved her, but that didn't mean anything. So long as he continued to hunt Aang, he was the enemy. Saving her life…while she appreciated being alive, she knew that it wasn't important in the grander scheme. Iroh was talking again. "You've been asleep for the past four days. After your head wound and the cold water, you needed rest. But I'm glad that you've awoken−Zuko and I were starting to worry. Would you let me look at your injury?" Katara let him undo the bandaging he had put around her head.

"Hmm…it looks like it's healing well enough. What about you? Are you seeing everything fine? You aren't dizzy or anything, are you?" Katara shook her head.

"I am sort of hungry," she admitted. Zuko let out an angry groan.

"What do you expect us to do about that? Does it look like we've been have a feast while you were asleep?" He was standing up and glaring at her again. "We haven't got anything for you to eat. We haven't even got drinkable water!" he shouted, motioning to the vast ocean. "Just a bunch of salt water! Which I guess is just great if you want to die faster!"

"Actually," Iroh intervened, "I've had this idea. I've been tossing it around for the past couple days, but Katara's waterbending is a key part of it, so it hasn't really been possible until now." Katara looked to Iroh, raising an eyebrow. "Listen, I understand that this isn't an ideal situation. None of us wanted this. But we are here." He looked over and met Katara's eye. "We can survive this. But only if we work together. We have everything we need." Turning to the ocean, he motioned, "Water."

"Weren't you listening to what I just said?" Zuko interrupted his uncle. "It's salt water. It'll just kill us faster!"

"Yes," Iroh responded. "But with our firebending and Katara's waterbending, we can turn it into fresh water." Katara's eyes lit up in recognition.

"My father taught my brother and I that trick!"

Iroh nodded. "This would normally require pots and such, which unfortunately we haven't got…such a shame. This situation demands tea." Katara raised an eyebrow. Tea? He was thinking about tea? She heard Zuko groan. Apparently, his uncle's desire for tea when they didn't even have water wasn't so surprising to him. "But with your help, we won't need any. You can just bend the water over to us, and we will heat it. When it evaporates, then you can bend the new fresh water back into liquid." Iroh was letting out a large smile, and Katara couldn't help but be moved by his enthusiasm. The plan should work, except…

"I've never done that before," she admitted. "I've bent the usual stuff, you know, water, ice, and snow. But I've never taken water out of the air before." What if she couldn't do it? Then Iroh's plan wouldn't work…they wouldn't have water. Food, Katara knew, a person could go without for quite some time. But water was vital to one's survival. For a moment Katara panicked, and suddenly she found that she empathized with Zuko's apparent pessimism.

But then Zuko himself spoke. "You can do it. You learn fast…a couple months ago you couldn't even freeze the right people and now you're…a decent waterbender." Katara's mouth dropped. She wasn't sure what was stranger−the fact that Zuko was apparently complimenting her, or how bitter Zuko sounded as he said it. But Katara set her jaw, a new feeling of steely determination setting in. She could do it. She had taught herself waterbending for fourteen years, enough that even Pakku had acknowledged it in their duel. Now that she had some actual training…she could figure this out. She had to.

"I'll figure it out," she told Iroh.

"Excellent! And as for food, perhaps we can catch some fish."

Zuko looked over to his uncle. "Do you even know how to fish?"

"It's never too late to learn."

"Urgh!" Zuko smacked his face, glaring into his palm. "We don't even have anything to catch fish with!"

"You have me," Katara pointed out. "Back at the South Pole I'd sometime practice my waterbending by using it to catch fish. I can do that here, too."

Iroh nodded. "Perfect. And then Zuko and I will cook the fish." He looked over to his nephew. "You see, Zuko? We can survive until we find land. Good thing you rescued Katara, or this would have been far less pleasant!"

She looked at Zuko, her face blank this time. He met her gaze with a similarly neutral expression. He frowned, but gave her a single, quick nod. There was…an understanding between them. He had saved her. Now it time for them to cooperate. To survive. That was all they could do for now, all that could be asked of them.

So Katara set to work on figuring out how to draw water from the air. She worked diligently, but Sokka and Aang were on her mind. They distracted her, but they also gave her strength. They must be missing her. What did they think? Did they think have any idea that she was alive? Were they looking for her? Did they…did they think she was dead? She let out a breath, and pulled…there. She saw it−several drops of water materialized. Katara smiled.

She was not going to die here.


	2. Part 1 Chapter 2: Moon and Ocean

"Goodbye, Sokka. I will always be with you."

And then Yue was gone. Not just dead, but fully disappeared. And Sokka was left behind at the Spirit Oasis, holding her betrothal necklace, and it _hurt_.

Sokka continued to sit there, clutching her necklace, reliving the past several minutes over and over. What had happened barely felt real to him. And it had all happened so fast. One moment they were there to stop Zhao from killing the Moon Spirit, and the next he was gone, Aang was gone, the Moon Spirit was dead, and then…so was Yue. She had _become_ the moon. Of all the people he knew, he'd always been the most skeptical of the spirit stuff. Bending, past lives, spirit monsters…he didn't really believe in that sort of stuff, and Sokka wondered momentarily if this was the universe's way of getting payback. _Oh, you don't believe in us? Well, then, we'll just have the woman you love turn into the moon!_ Was his skepticism really such an offense?

Of course, Sokka knew that their love was doomed from the beginning. She was the princess of the Northern Water Tribe and he…he was just some guy from the South Pole. But he couldn't help but fall for her. Her beauty had been what initially drew him to her, but it was Yue himself that made him fall so fast and hard. She was kind, and sweet, and just amazing. Sokka recalled his lame attempts to ask her out. He'd stumbled over his words, had made himself look like such an idiot, but she had decided to spend time with him anyways. And she had even loved him back…but she was already engaged. Somehow, her loyalty to her engagement only made him love her more. She was so strong and loyal…even when it broke her heart, she still stood by it. And her dedication to her tribe was even more amazing…and he didn't protect her. He failed. With a jolt Sokka realized that this was his fault. Chief Arnook had put him in charge of protecting Yue, but he didn't. She was dead and Sokka couldn't save her. Of course, she chose to give her life back to the Moon Spirit, but…Sokka should have protected the Moon Spirit, too, then. He should've done something different.

Sokka refused to cry. Warriors don't cry, he told himself, and he screwed his eyes shut to stop tears from escaping. But when he closed his eyes, he saw Yue. Yue in the boat as he saw her for the first time, Yue on Appa where they almost kissed…Yue, glowing bright as the moon, as she kissed him. _"Goodbye, Sokka. I will always be with you."_

Sokka opened his eyes and looked up at the moon. Yue. She really would always be with him…every night she would be in the sky, shining down on him. _I know you're still with me…but is it so wrong that I'd rather you be with me_ here _?_

 _Was this how Dad felt when Mom died?_ On one hand, Sokka really hadn't known Yue anywhere near as long as his father had known his mother. But still…Sokka had loved Yue. And if he could, he would have wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

But as quickly as she had appeared in his life, she was gone.

Sokka continued to sit there, just staring at the moon, for a long time. The moon was beautiful, and he didn't want to stop looking at Yue just yet. He didn't want to go help finish the battle. He was sure Aang and the other water tribesmen had it handled, anyways. They didn't need him. And he didn't really want to seek out Chief Arnook…how could he possibly tell him about Yue? The man had trusted him to protect his daughter and he had failed.

Eventually, Yue began to leave the sky and the sun began rising in the horizon. Day was coming, and Sokka knew he had to face the world. He looked at Yue's betrothal necklace again, and sighed. He had to return it to her father and tell him about Yue's…death. Or whatever it was, really. The point was that she was gone and Sokka failed. As Sokka left the Spirit Oasis, he realized that Katara had left him at some point, probably to find Aang after he created the big water-monster-fish thing. Sokka figured he should find her before he goes to Chief Arnook. He wanted her to be there. As annoying as Katara's mothering could be, the truth was that Sokka really needed her right now.

The Northern Water Tribe city had managed to withstand the Fire Nation's attack, but it was a wreck compared to the beautiful city it had been two days previously. There were holes in walls of homes and the ground had been rendered uneven from both waterbending and blasts of fire. Columns were collapsed; while most were decorative, and were used by waterbenders in the battle, others were part of structures which collapsed without them. Many of the canals were blocked by blobs of snow and broken bridges. The worst of the damage was near the entrance to the city, where virtually everything seemed destroyed. All of the buildings, even the great wall, were gone, and Sokka could see some remainders of them floating the water. The Northern Water Tribe had won the battle, but their city was in ruins. _They're still better off than my tribe,_ Sokka thought. _They, at least, have plenty of waterbenders to fix this. The city will be back to normal in no time._

Sokka searched around the city, asking people if they'd seen Katara. The answer was always 'no' and Sokka would move on. After a while, Sokka began to feel anxious…shouldn't _someone_ have seen her by now? Where was Katara? Was she okay? What if she was hurt, or…

Sokka couldn't let himself think like that. She had probably gone after Aang, and if she was with him, then she was alright. Katara was okay, and he would find her.

Sokka continued to look for her and after a few minutes he saw a familiar tattooed bald head. "Aang!" he called out. Aang turned around and, upon seeing Sokka, jumped over to him and hugged him, grinning.

"Sokka, you're okay!" The twelve year old hugged him for a moment, and the stepped back. The smile had slipped off and now his eyebrows were slightly down. "Are you okay? I mean, you look fine, but…I know you and Yue were sort of…"

Sokka bit his tongue a little and forced a small smile. "I'll be okay." _Someday._ "Have you seen Katara anywhere?"

Aang's eyes widened. He shook his head. "I haven't seen her since I left the Spirit Oasis− I thought she was still with you!"

Sokka's heartbeat began to beat faster. "She left the Spirit Oasis. I haven't seen her anywhere…I thought she was with _you_!" _If she isn't with me and she's not with Aang…then WHERE is Katara?_ Sokka was officially starting to panic. His heartbeat pounded from within his chest and he could feel his leg weaken as his thoughts raced. Where was his sister? Sokka looked around and, unwillingly, his eyes settled on the wreckage of the city's entrance. If Katara had been there…

"I bet she's at the healing huts," Aang spoke up quietly. Sokka turned back to him and saw that Aang was also looking at the city's entrance. He must have had the same thoughts. "Katara probably went to the healing huts to help the healers. She was learning to heal, too, you know." Aang looked back to Sokka, a smile returning to his face. "So she probably wants to help everyone who was hurt. I'm sure she's okay. Come on, we're probably making her worry about us." Aang motioned to Sokka, urging him to follow him to the healing huts.

Sokka slowly nodded. "Yeah…she's probably fine." _She has to be._ "And you're right, she probably starting to worry about us…so, we'd better go find her and let her know we're okay." _She has to be okay. I can't have failed two people I love in one night._

The two boys ran back towards the center of the city, continuing to keep an eye out for Katara. In truth, Sokka was becoming more and more desperate with each passing second. Aang was undaunted; he was confident that Katara was alright and that they'd find her at the healing huts. Sokka tried to take strength from Aang's certainty (but deep down he knew, he remembered, the twelve year old's propensity for denial).

Finally the two of them reached the healing huts, which were full and hectic as healers were busy with the many wounds of the previous night's battle. It had been far worse than the previous day's, due to the moon's disappearance. Aang and Sokka split up as they asked around. Like all of the other people Sokka had asked, every healer, every wounded warrior told him that they hadn't seen Katara.

Sokka was just about to go crazy when he saw Master Pakku talking to several other waterbenders. Sokka suddenly felt a little more optimistic. Maybe Pakku knew where Katara was. Sokka had assumed that she would have gone after Aang, but maybe instead she had gone to find Pakku. Gone to help the other waterbenders drive the firebenders out of the city. Maybe she had just gone over to talk− despite their horrible first encounters with each other, Pakku and Katara had quickly formed a bond after he learned who she was and began to teach her. She had actually spent a considerable amount of time with him outside of their lessons, talking to him about life in the Southern Water Tribe, telling about Gran-Gran. He, in turn, would tell her about Gran-Gran when he'd known her. Sokka had been there some of the time, but most of the time Katara had spent with Pakku, he had spent with…Yue.

It wasn't unreasonable that Katara would go talk to Pakku.

"Master Pakku!" he shouted as he ran up to him. The old waterbending master turned to face him.

Pakku quickly looked him over before speaking. He looked his age, worn down and exhausted after the siege. "Sokka. It's good to see that you made it through the battle. What do you need?"

"Katara. Have you seen Katara? I can't find her anywhere!"

Pakku's eyes widened a little bit. He turned to the nearby waterbenders. "Have any of you seen Katara? You all know who she is. She's missing." The other waterbenders were silent, some of them frowning as they tried to remember whether they had seen the young waterbender. Others simply shook their heads. Sokka and Pakku observed them. After a few moments, Pakku walked over to a couple of waterbenders that had looked at each other before trying to avoid Sokka's gaze. "Have either of you seen Katara?" They refused to look at the old waterbending master. "Kylatok, Nokoda, if you know something, then you will share it!"

Sokka stepped forward, hands pulled into fist. " _Where is my sister?_ "

One of them, the taller and paler of the two, answered first. "I…I think I may have seen her earlier. But I'm not really sure it was her."

"Where? Where was she?" The waterbender only looked down to his feet for a moment, before raising his head and looking away from Sokka. It took Sokka a few more moments to realize that the waterbender wasn't just avoiding looking at him; he was looking at the entrance of the city. The _pulverized_ entrance to the city. _No._

Pakku had also caught on. "You saw her near the entrance of the city? When was this? Nokoda, _when_ did you see Katara near the entrance of the city?"

The one who had previously spoken resumed looking at his feet. The other waterbender was the one who answered Pakku's question…and crushed Sokka's hope. "Right before the wave. We saw her running towards the entrance while we were making the wave. I…we didn't see her come out."

No.

No, this wasn't right.

_If that was…then…Katara couldn't be gone._

_She just…_

For a few moments, Sokka became dead to the world, numb and deaf, only mildly aware to Pakku's fury at his students. ("You knew there was one of our own in the line of the attack and you did _nothing_?!") It didn't matter. None of it did.

_I failed…again._

Not only had he failed to protect Yue, but he had failed to protect Katara, too. Katara. His sister. His wonderful, kind, and brave sister. His fourteen-year-old sister.

_"Being a man is knowing where you're needed the most. And for you right now, that's here, protecting your sister."_

He'd been so caught up in his grief over Yue…he hadn't even noticed when Katara had left him. He hadn't protected her.

Why did the spirits feel the need to take her away, too? _Why?_ What _was_ all of this? Sokka, for a few moments, wondered whether he was actually somehow cursed. Was this all payback for his skepticism? Hadn't he lost enough? His mother was dead…his father left…Yue was dead…why did they need to take Katara, too?

"We didn't think she'd keep running further out!" one of the waterbenders tried to defend themselves. "She should've known we'd push the remaining firebenders out! She should've come back."

Sokka heard that and he snapped back out of his thoughts, looking at the waterbenders. He felt like he was seeing them for the first time, and they weren't just two of many waterbenders. They were _horrible_. They had known that Katara was in danger, but they did nothing. _No, they didn't do nothing…they helped make the wave that…that…_

_They're just as bad as firebenders!_

"You," he growled out, glaring fiercely. "How…how could you do it? She's fourteen! How could you see her in the way and attack anyways!?"

The taller of the two stepped back. He looked incredibly distressed. Sokka didn't care. "I'm sorry," the waterbender said, eyebrows creased, eyes wide.

It was too much. " _I don't care!_ " Sokka launched himself onto him, punching him—punching his face, punching anywhere…he ought to throttle him. " _YOU KILLED MY SISTER!_ "

"What?"

Sokka stopped. _Oh no._ How could he have forgotten? He got off of the bloodied waterbender, stood, and turned around. "Aang…"

The twelve year old airbender was standing not far from him, having seen the commotion. And he looked…he had heard what Sokka had said. His eyes were wide and watering, his mouth slightly parted. _Damn it._ Sokka had forgotten all about Aang. He'd have had to tell him anyways, but this…this was a horrible way to find out.

"K-Katara?" Aang questioned, looking between the four men. Pakku, Sokka, Kylatok, and Nokoda. It was written all over their faces.

Katara was gone.

"No," Aang shook his head. Sokka took a few steps forward…and then he noticed the glow. _Oh no._ "NO!" Before Sokka could do or say anything, Aang was in the Avatar State and Sokka, along with Pakku, Kylatok, and Nokoda were all blasted away. Wind whipped around, throwing people and things all over. The water which composed the healing huts and other buildings melted and froze in a wild maelstrom, causing chaos all around Aang. Sokka himself had been thrown into an ice wall, his right wrist hitting before anything else. Sokka let out a grunt of pain as it hit, and when he pulled it away, he felt a dull throb of pain every few seconds.

He looked up, seeing the destruction that Aang was causing. The healing huts had already been overflowing because of the battle, and Sokka could hear screams of panic as the huts were destroyed and the ice beneath their feet rose and fell. Sokka saw several waterbenders try to attack Aang, attempting to knock him out. It didn't work. None of them had any chance of fighting an Avatar in the Avatar State. Sokka looked at Aang. He could see, even from where he was, that the kid was upset. He was grieving, just as he had been at the Southern Air Temple weeks previously. Attacking him would do nothing to stop the Avatar State. Aang needed to calm down. Aang needed comfort.

He needed Katara.

But she wasn't there. That was why Aang was upset. Because Katara was gone. Aang had lost her. So had Sokka.

And Sokka realized what he had to do.

Holding up his throbbing wrist, Sokka managed to pull himself to his feet. The wind blew hard at him, but he pushed himself forward, trying to get close enough to Aang to talk to him amidst the chaos. "Aang!" he called out. Spirits, what was he supposed to say? He wasn't one for mushy feely stuff. That was…Katara's job. "I know how you feel," he started lamely. "I'm feeling it, too! I know that you were close to Katara…" _Sokka and I! We're your family now!_ "She became your family after you lost the Air Nomads…but she was my family, too! She was my sister!" Sokka noticed that the wind blowing against him wasn't as hard as it was when he started speaking, and he continued, knowing what had to be said. "All that pain your feeling? I'm feeling it with you." He stepped closer, and he could feel the wind slowing down. He saw Aang slowly descending as he began to leave the Avatar State. "I'm still with you," he told Aang, as his tattoos stopped glowing and he collapsed. Sokka, rarely one for mushy hugs, allowed the twelve year old Avatar to embrace him as he cried. Sokka returned it with all of the strength of a platypus-bear. "Katara said that we're your family now. So…even if she's gone, I promise you, I'll always be with you."

Aang sniffled as he cried. "I've already lost my entire people…I can't lose Katara, too."

Sokka hugged Aang tighter for a moment before withdrawing a bit. "You know, we don't _really_ know for sure. She may have survived the wave." Aang looked up hopefully. "I'm not saying that she did−by the look of the city's entrance, it was a really powerful wave and it would take a miracle for her to live," he told Aang before he got his hopes up too much. "Still, if you ask me, the universe really owes us a miracle or two."

"So Katara may still be alive?" Aang looked outwards towards the city's entrance and the vast ocean beyond it. "If she is alive, then she's out there, somewhere, waiting for us."

Sokka nodded, and put his hand on Aang's shoulder, squeezing gently. "If she is alive…if she's out there at all, we're going to find her. Together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May eventually merge this chapter with chapter 3. Also, while the main part of the story is the Zutara portion, this story will have a lot on other characters and pairing.


	3. Part 1 Chapter 3: Conversations

Eager as Aang and Sokka were to search for Katara, they both knew there were several things they had to do beforehand.

First, and easiest, was having Sokka's wrist looked at by a healer. After he had coaxed Aang out of the Avatar State, he had become much more aware of the throbbing pain in his wrist. Trying to move it, he found that he wasn't able to move it well, and that even trying to turn it resulted in the pain intensifying…it was probably broken. The healers, of course, were overloaded with people wounded in the battle and the situation had not been helped by the chaos Aang had caused in the Avatar State. Thankfully, only a few people had been hurt before Sokka had calmed Aang down, and Sokka's broken wrist was the worst of those injuries. Sokka found a healer who was slightly less busy than the others. After waiting while she dealt with other people's injuries, Sokka entered the hut and the healer quickly set to work on healing his wrist. She spent a few minutes using her waterbending to heal him, and then wrapped his wrist. Sokka's thoughts drifted numbly around the events of the past few days as the cool water soothed the pain in his wrist.

The healer removed the water from his wrist and eyes it critically before giving a short nod. "I'm sorry I can't do more," the young healer told him. "But there are a lot of others who are injured worse, and I need to help them. Still, your wrist is much better than it was. Try not to move it for the next couple days…it should finish healing on its own within the next week or so." The young healer stood there for a moment, waiting for Sokka to respond, to let her know if anything else was hurt. During those brief seconds, Sokka unwillingly noticed that she had a slight resemblance to Katara. Her eyes were a bit paler, her hair a bit darker, her face a slight bit narrower, but the resemblance was enough to make Sokka's heart hurt. The healer even had the same hair loopies.

"Thank you," Sokka said, before quickly getting up and leaving the healer behind. He returned to Aang, who, upon seeing Sokka's wrist wrapped, apologized yet again for causing the injury. Sokka assured Aang that it was fine, that it really wasn't Aang's fault, and that he didn't need to apologize.

"You saw me beating that guy up," Sokka pointed out. "If I were the Avatar, I'd have gone into the Avatar State, too." Aang still looked guilty, but Sokka gave his shoulder a firm squeeze and told him once again, "It's okay. You don't have to apologize."

They left the healers and went to the palace. The second thing they had to do before looking for Katara would be much harder. It was what Sokka had been dreading all morning: telling Chief Arnook about Yue. With each step Sokka's heart beat faster and faster, and Sokka almost felt faint. He thought of different scenarios, trying to think of the best way to say it…

_Yue is dead._

There was no good way to say it.

Sokka almost wondered if he could just turn around, take Aang, and leave the city without facing Arnook. He even thought about justifications. _Katara is missing, but she could be alive…each moment she's out there alone, her chances of survival dwindle…we have to find her NOW, this is pointless anyways…_

But each time Sokka considered that, Aang would be there, offering his support and reminding how you can't run away from your duties. Sokka was supposed to protect Yue. And since he couldn't bring Arnook's daughter back to him, he had to tell him how it happened. Besides, Yue had told him to give her father her betrothal necklace, and Sokka couldn't possibly deny her that.

Aang and Sokka finally found Chief Arnook speaking with Master Pakku on the balcony which overlooked the city. As the two boys stepped onto the balcony, the chief and the waterbending master stopped speaking and turned to face the newcomers. Both of the men's faces were grim and Chief Arnook looked older than he had a few days before. Master Pakku walked away, leaving Chief Arnook alone at the railing of the balcony. Sokka took a breath. He had to do this.

Aang gripped his hand, offering his strength. "Do you want me to help tell him?"

Sokka let out a breath, the shook his head. "No. Thanks, Aang, but…this is something I've got to do alone." Stepping forward, Sokka reminded himself that Aang was not far away. He was still there, and Sokka drew some strength from that. But he wished that Katara was there, too.

Chief Arnook looked at Sokka, eyes somewhat downcast. The chief looked weary…and Sokka knew that it wasn't just from the battle.

He knew.

Sokka looked down to the ground, and got on his knees. "I'm sorry, Chief Arnook. You told me to protect Yue…but I failed. She's gone. I'm _so_ sorry, but she's gone." The chief put his hand on Sokka's shoulder, urging him to stand up.

The two of them stood there for a moment. Before the chief looked away, looking to the sky. "The Moon Spirit," he said simply. Sokka nodded. "Tell me exactly what happened."

So Sokka told him.

* * *

Aang hung back with Master Pakku as Sokka spoke to Chief Arnook. Aang watched as he got to his knees and apologized, and as he rose and began to tell Chief Arnook what had happened. _This day must be really bad for Sokka_ , he thought. They had both lost Katara, but Sokka had also lost the girl he loved. Two people in one day. Aang thought back to when they had visited the Southern Air Temple. He'd been devastated…seeing it empty, seeing Gyatso…realizing that he really was the last airbender…it had all been so horrible. It was the first time he'd gone into the Avatar State without his life being in danger. Katara had pulled him out of it, offering herself and Sokka as his new family.

And now he and Sokka had lost Katara. _He needs me_ , Aang realized. _Like I need him. If Katara is out there, we'll find her…and if she isn't…_

_"I'm still with you."_

They would still have each other, but it would never be the same without Katara.

It seemed that he wasn't the only one with Katara on his mind.

"I'm sorry about what happened to Katara," Master Pakku said, softer that he ever usually was. Aang looked up at the old waterbending master; Pakku looked weary in his own grief. "If I had known that she−that any of our own−was out there, I'd have immediately called off the attack." He scowled. "Kylatok and Nokoda should have stopped the attack as soon as they saw her. I don't know if this comforts you at all, but they will be brought to trial for this. They will probably be banished; the Water Tribes take any form of betrayal very seriously. Though, truth be told, I found Kylatok's broken nose to be pretty satisfying as well."

They were both silent for a moment. "Sokka thinks it's possible that Katara could be alive. We're going to look for her."

"It's possible," Pakku granted. "But not very likely. The wave was as powerful as we could make it, and we intentionally left parts of the city frozen. Katara would have been very lucky to have survived it." The old master stopped and shook his head. "I do hope that Katara has survived. And I hope that we can find her. Yes, we…I will take as many other tribesman as I can and help you look for her. She was the best student I've ever had. She was so eager to learn, so focused. She was talented and ferocious in a way that few waterbenders are." Pakku stopped for a moment. "In truth, she was special beyond her waterbending abilities. She challenged me, challenged my tribe's customs. She fought me, a master waterbender, in order to prove herself, to fight for what she believed to be right—even if it contradicted centuries of tradition. The world needs more people like her. People willing to challenge what is known. People willing to leave everything they've known to help restore balance to the world." He stopped, and looked at Aang. "Her destiny was tied to yours. Hopefully, that means it's not over yet. Just don't rest your hopes on finding her. The disappointment would only be worse."

"So…what now?"

"I'll continue to train you while you're here. But I do believe you have a deadline for mastering the other elements?"

Aang nodded. "Sozin's Comet. It returns this summer."

"Then you will have to move on and find other masters. Do you have any ideas for an earthbending master?"

Aang nodded vigorously. "King Bumi of Omashu! He was actually around before I got stuck in the iceberg a hundred years ago. He's the greatest earthbender I've ever seen, and he's also one of my best friends."

"He's also a great player of Pai Sho."

Aang blinked. "You know him?"

"We've met."

Aang smiled. As bad as things were, he was looking forward to seeing his old friend again. And, hopefully, by the time he and Sokka went to Omashu, they would have Katara with them again.

* * *

Sokka told Chief Arnook everything that had happened, every moment that had led up to Yue's death. He told the chief how his daughter had wanted Sokka to give him her betrothal necklace, and did so. He told him how her body had disappeared, and then briefly reappeared as the new Moon Spirit. For a few moments, they stood there, staring out at the sky, knowing that the girl they both loved was out there.

"The spirits gave me a vision when Yue was born," Chief Arnook finally said. "I saw a beautiful, brave young woman become the Moon Spirit. I knew this day would come."

 _The spirits knew this would happen?_ They had planned it from the beginning. They planned to sacrifice Yue from the beginning of her life…that was why the Moon Spirit gave her life. _Why?_ Sokka thought. _Why did it have to be her? She was the most amazing, kind, and selfless girl I've ever known…why did you choose to take her away?_

_That was why._

Sokka understood it then. It was because Yue was so kind, so selfless that they chose her. The Moon Spirit had to give life to someone who would be willing to give it back. Someone who would choose the world over themselves.

"You must be proud." It was all he could really say to Yue's father.

"So proud. And sad." The silence resumed for several more minutes before Chief Arnook turned to him. "Master Pakku told me that your sister is gone."

"We don't know for sure." Sokka frowned. "Apparently she got swept away in the wave that destroyed the entrance to the city. That doesn't necessarily mean that she's dead. She could be out there somewhere."

Chief Arnook nodded. "Master Pakku said the same thing, and asked that he be allowed to take some other members of the tribe to go searching for her. Apparently, he's already found quite a few people who want to help."

Sokka looked up, eye widening, before a smile worked its way forward. He turned around to see that the old waterbending master was still standing next to Aang. "Wow. I didn't realize he cared that much."

"I believe that he sees something in her−a bit of himself, maybe, or a part of a life that could have been. Sokka," the chief said, brows creasing sympathetically. "I hope you find your sister. I know that you were…close to my daughter. I wouldn't wish another loss upon you so soon."

"Thanks. I hope I find her, too." _I have to._

* * *

"You promised we'd find Katara together!"

"I know, Aang, it's just…"

"Just what, Sokka? You said we'd look for her together, but now you're saying you don't want me there?"

"It's not so simple, Aang…"

"What do you mean? Sokka, look, I have to help find Katara, she wa-is my friend."

"I know, but-"

"But what? You think I'll go into the Avatar State if she really is gone?" Aang was quiet for a few moments, and Sokka didn't say anything. "Sokka, I can handle it now…I mean, I won't freak out like I did earlier…"

"That's not it," Sokka told him. He sighed, pressing his palm to his forehead. "It's not that I don't want you there. Honestly, I kind of need you there, especially if she's really…but when I said we'd look for her together, I wasn't really thinking. Now that I've had the chance…I just don't think you should see what's out there."

Now Aang was just confused. _So…he does want me there, but he also doesn't want me there?_ "What do you mean?"

"Bodies, Aang. The aftermath of the battle. A lot of people were swept away in that wave. Fire Nation people, granted, but still human beings. Not to mention the ships that were sunk by the Ocean Spirit. The thing is…you're twelve." Aang blinked. Why was Sokka telling him his own age? "I forget that sometimes. But I've been thinking…I'm not sure that you should have to see this. It…may be a bit much."

"Oh." So Sokka was trying to protect him. Aang sort of appreciated it. And, admittedly, it did sort of scare him once he thought about it. He knew, of course, that a lot of people had been killed. But to go up close to them? It would be…disturbing, and Aang felt sort of nauseous just thinking about it. _But I have to go. Even if it makes me sick, because…_ "When you promised me that we'd look for Katara together, I promised I'd be there with you. We promised each other. Because we need each other. You just said it yourself, Sokka. You'll need me if Katara is…gone." Aang didn't want to accept it. Not unless he had to. "We are doing this together, okay?"

Sokka just stared at him for a few moments before smiling. "I should've known I couldn't talk you out of coming with me. Fine, we'll still look for her together. But, if you feel…bad or, anything, we'll come back and drop you off, okay?"

Aang agreed, but he resolved to be strong so that Sokka wouldn't have to be alone. _You won't leave me and I won't leave you,_ he thought. The two boys got onto got onto Appa. The other tribesmen were still organizing, and would join the search the next day. "Okay, Appa, are you ready to find Katara?" Appa let out a large rumble. "Yeah, me too. Yip yip!"

And the boys began their search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May merge this with chapter 2 in future revisions. Feel free to weigh in on whether that's a good or bad idea.


	4. Part 1 Chapter 4: Acceptance

Day one:

Sokka and Aang began their search late in the day, and were already quite exhausted. Nonetheless, the hope of finding Katara drove them to search the entrance and the area surrounding it. Appa flew relatively close to the surface so that Sokka and Aang could have a better look at each chunk of ice, each body in the water.

Aang thought of how Sokka hadn't wanted him to have to see them. And, in truth, Sokka was not wrong; it was disturbing to see so many bodies floating in the water. At first, Aang thought several of them could still be alive, and convinced a wary Sokka to let them go check. Sokka did not particularly seem to care if the Fire Nation soldiers were alive or dead, and seemed to prefer to just leave them to die if they had miraculously survived. "Don't forget that it's Katara we're looking for. Don't get sidetracked," he warned Aang. Aang understood−but he couldn't just let someone die if he could help them. In his eyes, that would make him at least partially responsible for their death. To say nothing of his own Ocean Spirit-induced hand in the death and destruction.

Ultimately, it didn't matter, because each body that Aang had thought might still be alive was dead after all. Looking for Katara was a grim task, and with each body Aang saw he felt sicker. Sokka would occasionally ask him if he was alright and Aang would nod, but in truth, he felt his previous optimism fading with each body he saw. _So many people…how could Katara have survived this?_

Eventually, it was too dark to see, and Aang and Sokka were tired. They hadn't really slept since before the invasion, several days ago. They reluctantly returned to the city and went to a fitful and unfulfilling sleep.

They would search again the next day.

* * *

Day two:

Aang and Sokka woke up around dawn, still tired, but energized by the need to find Katara. They set out with Appa and began their search again. Not long after they took to the sky, they saw several Northern Water Tribe boats join them. This was the group of people that Master Pakku had recruited to help search for Katara. Around midday, Sokka and Aang had Appa fly beside the ship. Aang and Sokka hopped over and approached Pakku.

"Wow," Aang said to Master Pakku. "This is a lot of people−they're all here to help look for Katara?"

Pakku nodded. "She left quite the impression on the Tribe."

"Master Pakku? Thanks…you know, for coming out here to help find my sister. We really need the help," Sokka admitted. They'd had no luck finding Katara the previous day. With the help of the other tribesmen, though, they could cover more ground. Aang and Sokka both felt more hopeful than they had before.

But even with the help of the other tribesmen, the day gave into night too quickly, and they again had to return empty-handed.

* * *

Day three:

Sokka and Aang set out to find Katara once again. This time they moved a little bit slower as they woke up, as they got onto Appa. Sokka wanted to attribute it only to the fact that they hadn't gotten a good night's sleep since before the Fire Nation's attack, before Katara disappeared, but he knew that that wasn't all. The truth was that they were slowly beginning to realize that they wouldn't find her. Sokka tried to believe they would, if only for Aang's sake, but the more he looked, the less he believed that she could be alive. _Come on universe, just grant me this. Please bring my sister back to me._

There was an awkward silence between Sokka and Aang throughout the day. Several times one of them would try to initiate a conversation, but it would only last a couple minutes at most before they grew silent again. Sokka wondered if Aang had the same thoughts on his mind.

Once again, they returned empty-handed.

Day four:

For some reason, when Aang woke up on the fourth day of their search, he was more certain that Katara was alive than ever. He eagerly woke up Sokka, and leaped onto Appa with renewed enthusiasm.

_Today, we ARE going to find Katara._

He initiated conversation with Sokka, who responded to any topic Aang gave him. He wasn't as optimistic as Aang was, but still, seeing the twelve year old resuming his usually cheerful disposition somehow lightened Sokka's own mood. He still had Yue and Katara on his mind, but for a few precious hours, it almost felt normal. Just him and Aang talking and telling a few jokes. Though they were still searching, the search somehow felt far away.

Those hours were done soon enough, and despite Aang's optimism, the day still ended sourly.

They still hadn't found Katara.

_Where are you?_

* * *

Day five:

On the fifth day, Sokka and Aang both woke up slowly, exhaustion and despair catching up to them. They were truly beginning to see that, no matter how much they wanted to believe that Katara was still alive, it was more likely that she really was gone.

Adding to the bad news was that the tribesmen that had been helping them look for Katara would be ending their search in two days−one week after Katara had gone missing. "Chief Arnook believes that if Katara can't be found within a week, then there is nothing _to_ be found," Pakku explained. The old man looked older than he had just a week before. "There are more people out now that most of the wounded are taken care of, and perhaps that may help, but…"

"You don't think Katara is out there," Sokka stated. Aang, Pakku, and Sokka stood by silently for a moment before Pakku spoke again.

"It was unlikely that she survived the wave to begin with. And it would be impossible for her to survive an entire week alone out here. If we can't find her in the next few days, then it's time for us to accept the loss and move on. And it would be wise for you to do the same."

Aang's eyes widened. "You want us to give up?! We can't do that, we can't abandon Katara−"

"Aang," Sokka put his hand on Aang's shoulder, and Aang looked to him. "Pakku is right. We don't even know if she's alive…if we do find her, it might just be…" _Her remains._ "If we don't find anything soon, we have to call the search off. We can't stay here looking for her forever." Sokka sighed, looking pained. "You know I want to find her. But…if we can't, then we need to accept it and move on. You still have to save the world, Aang. Katara believed in you, and so do I. But you can't do that here." _And this place has become painful._

Aang looked like he'd argue for a moment before he deflated. "Fine," he relented. "But we still have a few more days."

Sokka nodded. "We're still looking. If she is out there, we'll find her."

They looked harder than ever, going further past the city into the wide ocean. They saw nothing still. Aang struggled with exhaustion, his eyes closing against his will. Several times Aang would feel weightless and suddenly wake up, realizing that he had fallen asleep for at least a few seconds. Sokka noticed and eventually told him to just take a nap.

"You haven't been getting much sleep, have you? I know you're tired. Just go to sleep, Aang. You need it."

"But Katara−"

"No offense, Aang, but you aren't very useful falling asleep every few seconds. Just take a nap. I've got this covered. If I find her, I'll wake you up, okay?"

Eventually, Aang woke up, better rested. Sokka hadn't found Katara.

By the end of the day, even Aang was starting to give up hope of finding her.

* * *

Day six:

On the sixth day of the search, Aang and Sokka hung back, staying closer to the tribesmen and their boats than they had on previous days.

"Maybe we missed something closer to the city's entrance," Sokka explained, though his tone indicated his weariness. "We've been going so far out, away from the city. We've actually gone further than the wave probably went. But if Katara was alive, if she had any control of where she was going, she would have tried to get back to the city. So…maybe she's actually close to the entrance. We could've passed her every day without noticing, especially if she was under any ice or snow."

Aang wasn't sure that he really believed that, but he figured it couldn't hurt to go back and check the entrance area again. After all, they hadn't had any luck further out.

Aang and Sokka continued looking for Katara throughout the day. Aang used his bending to lift and move ice to check if Katara could have gotten trapped under any. _Of course not,_ he thought. _Katara could've handled that anyways, unless…_

_If I do find her, it may just be…_

Aang tried to put it out of his mind. His own insistence that Katara was alive was like a wall in his mind, acceptance battering against his denial.

Eventually, the wall had to give.

Aang was lifting snow out of the way, checking the entrance of the city in the last hours of daylight, when he saw a familiar figure leaving one of the search boats.

_Katara._

"Katara!" Aang dropped the snow he'd been bending, leaping over to Katara and enveloping her into an uncomfortably tight hug. "I'm so glad you're alright! Sokka and I were so scared when we couldn't find you, and we've been looking, and everyone's telling us you're dead, but you're okay and−"

"Um…I'm sorry, but…" the girl's voice said into Aang's ear. Not Katara's voice. Aang withdrew from the unreturned hug, stepping away in shock.

Not Katara.

It wasn't Katara.

The girl's resemblance to Katara was striking, but now that Aang saw her up close, he saw the slight difference in her coloring, and the difference in her face's shape. And her voice was far to mellow to belong to Katara. "Oh," he said simply. He hung his head, frowning. His shoulders slumped, and Aang felt the sting of defeat. He'd really thought it was Katara. "I'm sorry, I thought you were Katara…"

The girl winced, grimacing sympathetically. "That's alright. I'm sorry I got your hopes up…" The girl was blushing, but it wasn't a happy blush. She looked genuinely apologetic, though she hadn't done anything wrong.

"No," Aang told her. "That's not your fault. I just…saw you. You actually look a lot like her. I assumed you were her without thinking…"

"I get it. You just…wished she was here, and when you saw me, you hoped so much…"

Aang nodded glumly. "Yeah." They were quiet for a moment, and Aang couldn't stand it. Not Katara, not Katara, not Katara. "So you've been out here with the search boats?" he finally said, just to break the silence. He'd always been a good conversationalist, but now he found he wasn't sure what to say.

Not-Katara nodded. "This is only my second day out here, though. I would've come before, but I was busy in the healing huts."

"You're a healer?" Aang inquired.

"Yeah. Actually, I healed your friend's wrist the other day."

"You're the one that healed Sokka?" Seeing her nod, Aang offered her a small smile. "Thanks for healing him." It had been his fault that Sokka was injured. Knowing that this was the person who had helped fix it, Aang felt grateful. "Katara's a healer, too." Aang looked away from the girl again.

Not-Katara nodded. "Yeah, I know. She's amazing." She blushed again. "I mean, I've only seen her at one healing session, and that was just a lesson, so it wasn't much. But Katara is, well, she's amazing and perfect and strong." The girl grimaced, covering her face with her hand. "What I mean to say is, she's sort of my hero. I admire her." She was younger than Katara, Aang realized.

He nodded. "Yeah…Katara is amazing…" A slightly dreamy expression appeared on Aang's face as he thought of her. "You know she's the last waterbender of her tribe? And she was willing to go all the way across the world to learn waterbending. And she taught herself along the way."

Not-Katara nodded. "Yeah. And then Master Pakku said no, and she challenged him. I watched her duel with him−that was _amazing_! She taught herself all of that?"

Aang nodded. "Yeah. And, you know, she was a better waterbender than me. You should've seen her wipe out Prince Zuko in one move."

The girl looked down. "I wish I was more like her," she quietly admitted. "I always wanted to learn real waterbending, but I'm a girl…I mean, obviously I'm a girl…I hope it's obvious; that is, I hope I don't look like a boy. Not that there's anything wrong with being aboy—or that I'm insulting Katara! She was really pretty…um…" She looked at Aang, who was actually fighting off a small smile as he listened to her.

"So you don't just want to heal, either?" It reminded him of Katara, but the more he talked to this girl, the more he saw the huge differences between them.

"I like healing, I really do. But I've always wanted to actually help fight, too. Maybe then there would be fewer people hurt…and killed if they had more help…" She was looking down now, but Aang could still see her pained expression. Her eyes were wet.

"You lost someone in the battle, didn't you?" he guessed.

She slowly nodded. "My father and my brothers were all out there. And I was just stuck in the healing huts, wondering if any of them would return injured, or worse, not return at all." She took a shuddering breath and let it out. "Saroda…he didn't make it. And I just wonder…could I have made any difference if I was out there with him?"

"You can't think like that," Aang told her. "I know it's tempting to try and take the blame for bad things happening to your loved ones…but it wasn't your fault. And there's no guarantee that he'd have lived if you were there. Maybe he would have died anyways. Or you'd have died instead of him. Maybe both of you would have died, and then what?" He went quiet for a second as he remembered telling Katara about his last days before the iceberg while they were in that cave. He remembered blaming himself for all that had happened to the world since he'd disappeared. "You know, I sometimes feel responsible for what happened to the Air Nomads. I figured…maybe if I'd been there, I could've saved them and stopped this war before it started. But Katara pointed out that I'd have probably just died with them…and then the situation would all just be worse. So…don't dwell on whether you could have saved him. You'll just drive yourself crazy. Just…accept it, mourn him, and move on. I'm sure that's what your brother would have wanted you to do."

They were both quiet for a moment as they both processed what Aang had said. The girl frowned, looking out to the moon, while Aang thought about Katara. _Just…accept it, mourn him, and move on. I'm sure that's what your brother would have wanted you to do._ Was it time for him to accept that Katara was gone? All this time, he'd been clinging to the hope that Katara was still alive somewhere, but after six days of looking for her, they hadn't even had the slightest hint that she had even survived the wave. _Tomorrow is the last day of looking for her…are we really going to find her? Is there anything left to find at all?_

"Thanks, Avatar," the girl said after a few minutes. "I…it's still sort of a shock. Saroda has always been there, and now he's…but you're right. He wouldn't want me to torture myself with what-if's."

"No problem," Aang told her. "But please, just call me Aang." He wondered if he'd ever really get used to people calling him Avatar. "What's your name?" _I can't just keep calling you Not-Katara._

"Senirra," she told him. They were quiet again for a few moments. "When you told me to accept my brother's death," she said quietly. "You were talking about Katara, too, weren't you?"

Aang didn't say anything for so long, it seemed that he wasn't going to answer. Senirra awkwardly looked around, and almost walked away when Aang finally answered. "Yeah. I was talking about Katara, too."

In a way, it felt sort of liberating. Ever since Sokka had told him that Katara was missing, Aang had stubbornly clung to the possibility that she was still alive. He had hung onto it for nearly a week now, as they searched and searched, and found nothing. In truth, it had all been very exhausting and frustrating, but Aang had held onto this small chance that Katara would be out there, that he would find her, that they could be together again. That things could go back to the way they were before the siege. Aang had built his wall of denial so high, no ladder, no rope, not even an airship could let acceptance get through. Then Senirra, with her almost creepy resemblance to Katara, had shown up and blasted through that wall.

"Don't get me wrong," Aang continued. "I would be happy beyond words if we do find Katara, but…if we don't, then I guess I'll just have to accept it. Katara wouldn't want me spend the rest of my life caught up over her."

"For what it's worth," Senirra said. "I hope you get some sort of miracle and she shows up tomorrow."

Aang offered her a smile. "Thanks."

He returned to Sokka, who told him, of course, that they hadn't found Katara.

_Tomorrow is the last day._

* * *

Day seven:

"Aang…are you sure you want to come?" Sokka looked concerned. "It's just…"

"It's the last day," Aang said. "I know. And I know we probably won't find her. But we promised we'd look together. If we can't find her today…"

"Then we'll still have each other." Sokka nodded. "Alright." He sighed. "Let's do this. Appa, yip yip!"

They searched, and searched, and searched. All day, they looked. They didn't bother staying close to the water today. They mostly just flew around up high. Mostly, it was just Aang and Sokka talking. _Aang has finally accepted that she's gone,_ Sokka realized. It both relieved Sokka, and made him sad. Sad, because it pretty much confirmed that Katara was gone; if even Aang couldn't see her miraculously showing up, then there was no hope to be had. But then…he had already realized this several days ago. But Sokka also felt relief. At least that was one difficult conversation he didn't need to have with Aang.

The day went by slowly, and as painful as it was, it was also sort of peaceful. Calming. At one point Aang started talking about all sorts of spirit mumbo jumbo, talking about life and death, and his beliefs. Sokka didn't really understand half of it, but when he looked down to the ocean, which was sparkling orange and pink from the setting sun, and saw a group of seal-dolphins leaping out of the water, he thought maybe he understood a little of what Aang meant. He thought about Katara−the ocean would be her final resting place. Would she like that, he wondered? Would she have appreciated being with her element forever? Did she die fast? Sokka hoped so. He hoped that she was at peace. He thought of Yue, ascending to the sky, glowing as the new Moon Spirit. Katara wasn't a spirit, he knew, but he still saw her in the ocean, large blue eyes gleaming. As he looked down to the ocean, he somehow appreciated that it was there she had died. Her element. Sokka's throat hurt and he felt tears in his eyes. He missed her, he would always miss her. And eventually, he was going to have to tell Dad how he had failed to protect her.

But for now, looking into the deep blue ocean, he felt oddly at peace.

The two boys waited, watching the sun set. Eventually, they headed back to the city. This would be the last time. Their search was over.

* * *

They lied around that night, neither one making any effort to go to sleep.

"Hey, Sokka?"

"Yeah?"

"I miss Katara."

"Me too."

"You know, I actually had a crush on her."

"What?" Sokka looked over to Aang, who gave a nervous chuckle. It was dark, but Sokka was certain that Aang was blushing. He thought back to when he'd seen them together (it all seemed so long ago…). "Wow," he said, thinking of the love-struck expressions Aang had rather frequently shot his sister. "It all seems so obvious now. How did I not notice this before?"

"I don't know," Aang shrugged. "I don't think Katara ever really noticed. I guess that's okay. I loved her as a friend…and I guess now I'll never know if it could've been more."

"She was your first crush, wasn't she?"  
"Yeah. I…never thought it would end like this."

"I know. Katara's always been there for me…I never wanted to think of a world without her." The room grew quiet again. "You know, our mother died when we were really young. And it was…hard. But Katara, she really stepped up. She took over all the duties Mom had, and she was there for me, and now…the truth is, sometimes I can't even remember what my mother looked like. And when I try to think of her, I see Katara instead."

Aang nodded. "Yeah…she was my family, too." He rolled over, closer to Sokka.

"Do you want to sleep, or do you want to keep talking?"

Aang took a minute to answer. "Do you have any good memories of her before I met her?"

"Of course. You know, I'm not the only one who did stupid, embarrassing things as a kid. Like, there was this one time where she freaked out the entire village when she…"

Aang smiled, lying next to Sokka, listening to his stories of when Katara was little. He was certain, now…

_We'll be okay, Katara._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is back to Zuko and Katara. Promise.


	5. Part 1 Chapter 5: Frustration

Katara could not have imagined a more awkward situation in her wildest dreams.

Stuck with the enemy. Prince Zuko.

After she had woken up and Iroh had explained to her what had happened, she agreed to try his plan to turn the salt water into fresh water. She spent the next few hours testing it out, trying to take some water out of the air. Eventually, she succeeded in taking a few droplets out of the air.

"I did it," she announced proudly. Despite the situation, she grinned as she eyed the droplets. If nothing else, it was a learning experience. "Just a few drops, but I can build from there."

"Excellent," Iroh said, a large grin on his face. He sat near her, though not quite beside her. "Now, we should practice. I'll heat the salt water, and then you can take the evaporated water out of the air. Unless Zuko would like to try?" Iroh looked over to his nephew, who was on on the opposite side of the draft. The prince just sat there on the driftwood, scowling at his uncle's question. He didn't have to voice his answer; it was obvious he didn't want to help. Katara frowned as she saw Iroh's smile fall a bit. "Very well, then. But I hope you will be more willing to cooperate in the future."

 _I doubt that_ , Katara thought as she glared at the prince. He didn't seem too interested in helping, apparently preferring to sit and sulk while Katara and Iroh did their part to survive. _Stupid, spoiled prince._

Katara and Iroh set to work. Katara bent a small stream of water out of the ocean, forming a small orb of water between her and Iroh. From there, Iroh would use his firebending to heat the water. Katara watched as the orb would slowly evaporate, and she began to use one hand to pull the water vapor out of the air, using her other hand to maintain the orb of salt water. It was rather complicated, more difficult than just pulling water from the air; she had to put her focus into each task concurrently. Taking the water from the vapor and holding the salt water orb. She used one hand for each task, and several times she faltered, bending the wrong orb, or almost dropping one. The balls of water weren't perfect and were more like randomly shaped, ever-shifting blobs. It was a very difficult process, but finally all of the sea water was evaporated, and Katara used her now free hand to pull to vapor into the other ball of water.

"That was some excellent bending," Iroh praised. Katara smiled, feeling a surge of pride. She had done it. It was difficult, but she managed to do it, all on her own. And although she would have preferred praise from Master Pakku over that of an enemy, she still appreciated Iroh's words.

"Thanks," she finally let out. The old man truly didn't seem so bad for being Fire Nation. Katara supposed that this was a good thing−she and Zuko would have clashed, possibly to their deaths, if Iroh hadn't been there to intervene. _At least it's not just me and Zuko_ , she thought.

"Zuko," Iroh beckoned his nephew over. "We've done it! We've made fresh water. I told you that we could work things out if we cooperated." Zuko looked over to them, looking momentarily disbelieving, before glancing at the orb of fresh water that Katara was holding up. For just a second, Zuko locked eyes with Katara. Disbelief, hope, mistrust, Zuko's eyes showed them all. Katara just looked at him blankly and she almost raised her eyebrow. _It's not poisoned, jerk. I'm drinking it, too._ Zuko looked away and came closer.

"We haven't got anything to put the water in," Katara pointed out. "And I can't hold this up forever. So…I guess we'll drink what we've got for now, and in a few hours Iroh and I can make more." Iroh nodded approvingly, while Zuko scowled.

"And how are we supposed to drink it? You just said there's nothing to put the water in." Zuko sounded irritated, and Katara began to wonder if the prince was ever happy.

Katara looked at the water, and pulled some out. She opened her mouth and used her bending draw some water in. "There," she said after swallowing. The water was wonderful−she hadn't realized until then just how dehydrated she was. Her mouth had been parched and the water felt amazing as it soothed her dry throat. "Just open your mouth, and I can guide the water in."

To Katara's exasperation, Zuko just got upset again. "We're not animals!" he shouted indignantly.

Katara clenched her fists. She was resisting the urge to throw her hands up in the air as she shouted back. "Fine! You can just sit there then. More water for Iroh and I! You know, we're trying to survive. And you just sit there and complain!? Well, I'm sorry that life on a piece of driftwood isn't fancy enough for you! If you don't feel like helping, or even appreciating what we do, then you can just sit there and starve for all I care."

"Fine!" he snapped.

"Fine!" He turned away from her again, and Katara did the same. Her water was rippling unstably with her anger, and Katara stuggled to keep it up.

 _Zuko is impossible_ , she thought. _I thought he was bad before, what with him chasing us all over the world…but actually spending time with him? How is it even_ possible _for one person to be so infuriating?_ Katara heard a tired sigh, and turned to see Iroh, sitting between her and Zuko. He was shaking his head, and pinching the ridge of his nose.

"Water?" she offered. He had done nothing to offend her; in fact, she found herself increasingly surprised by Iroh's geniality. And, frankly, she was starting to feel bad for him. How long had he been putting up with Zuko's attitude? She was about ready to scream, and she'd only been with Zuko for part of a day.

The old Fire Nation general smiled appreciatively and nodded. Katara bent a bit of water over to him and he drank it gladly. "Ah, thank you, Katara."

"You're welcome," she returned, offering him a small smile.

"Zuko will come around," he told her quietly. He frowned. "My nephew is prideful. He thinks he can do everything on his own…he doesn't like relying on others, much less someone he would usually consider an enemy. This situation, this helplessness…Zuko is lashing out, unfortunately at you, but give him time."

"I'm not helping him if he doesn't help us," Katara told Iroh. That was how it was done in the Southern Water Tribe and how it was done with Aang and Sokka. Once again, Katara felt a pang of loneliness at the thought of them. She missed them. And, she realized, it had to be even worse for them. To her, she had only been separated from them for a few hours. But she had been unconscious for four days−and Aang and Sokka would have undoubtedly been looking for her during that time. _They must be so worried,_ she thought. _And Sokka…he lost Yue._ Katara also felt a small sting of loss as she thought of the princess. She hadn't known her as well as Sokka had, but she had talked to her a few times. Occasionally she had gone with Sokka and Yue on their outings, but she had spent most of her time at the Northern Water Tribe learning waterbending, or talking to Master Pakku. Still, she had been on fairly friendly terms with Yue, and had had a few conversations with her. She knew that Yue had loved her brother, even though she was already betrothed. _Stupid arranged marriage._ Katara closed her eyes for a moment, remembering Yue's last moments and her farewell to Sokka. _I should be with Sokka,_ Katara thought. _He just lost Yue and I should be there with him._

 _What does he think about me? Is he looking for me? Is Aang with him?_ Katara felt certain that they were looking for her. The question was, would they find her? From what she could tell, they were drifting away from the tribe, not to mention how far out the wave could have pushed them to begin with. Katara hoped they did find her, though she honestly wasn't certain what would be done about Zuko and Iroh. What would they do? Leave them in the ocean? Katara doubted Aang would go with that. He had refused to leave Zuko out in the blizzard before, and leaving them in the middle of the ocean with no food or drinkable water wasn't any better. So what then? Take them to the Northern Water Tribe? Somehow, Katara doubted they wanted prisoners, even royal ones. More likely they'd be killed. Of course, there was still Zuko to take into consideration. By all appearances, his obsession with capturing Aang went beyond rationality. Just a few days previously, he had taken Aang and waded into a blizzard with no way to get out of the North Pole. So if Aang were to show up for Katara, would Zuko attack Aang? In the middle of the ocean? Iroh, Katara suspected, wouldn't approve. He, at least, seemed to value survival over fighting enemies. He had talked Zuko down from fighting Katara, but could he convince Zuko not to attack Aang for the sake of survival?

Would he? As pleasant as Iroh seemed, Katara had to remind herself that Iroh was not only a Fire Nation general, but royalty. He was the Firelord's brother. He may be willing to work with a waterbending friend of the Avatar, but the Avatar was the greatest threat to his brother and the Fire Nation's war.

Katara groaned, rubbing her head. _This is ridiculous_ , she thought. _I've been around Iroh for a matter of hours and I'm already questioning our enmity._ He was incredibly strange. The way he talked to her, the way he praised her and smiled at her. One would think he didn't even know they were enemies. In a way, he was just as frustrating as his nephew. Whereas Zuko was obviously a royal pain, who would yell and shout and literally breathe fire at the slightest offense, Iroh was so enthusiastically friendly, it was baffling. Katara idly wondered if all of the members of the Fire Nation's royal family were so…bizarre and extreme. She almost laughed at the thought. _If they are all crazy, then no wonder these two left home. They must all drive each other crazy._

Somehow, the idea of the Firelord's family being incredibly dysfunctional comforted Katara. And, in a way, it seemed…right. Thinking of Zuko, she had a hard time picturing the most evil guy in the world taking time out to have a wife and care for his children. She tried to picture the Firelord plotting the death and destruction of the world, and then walking a room over and playing with a toddler Zuko. It was a ridiculous image and suddenly Katara felt…sad. Sad because she really couldn't picture it. Firelord Ozai did have a family. But what sort of person could he be with his family when he was so cruel to the rest of the world? How could he possibly be caring towards his family when he carelessly rips other families apart? For a moment, Katara turned and looked at Zuko, who was still turned away from her. What was his father like with him? Did Zuko see a different side to his father than the rest of the world? Or was the Firelord cruel to his own son?

 _Of course not_ , Katara chided herself. It was unfathomable. Whatever Firelord Ozai was like to the rest of the world, she supposed he must have had some affection for his family. Katara looked back to Iroh and considered asking about the royal family. _It could be useful information_ , she told herself. How many other relatives did the Firelord have? Who was set to inherit the throne? Katara figured it was Zuko, but then, the Firelord could have a child older than Zuko for all she knew. Katara decided against asking Iroh. Friendly as he was, Katara would be surprised if he didn't answer her, but there was no guarantee that he'd be honest.

Katara was saved from her thoughts by her stomach grumbling, and it was only then that she realized that she was quite hungry. She looked over to Iroh. "I'm going to try to catch some fish," she told him.

He nodded, once again smiling. "And then I can cook them for you."

Katara spent the next hour using her waterbending to catch fish. There weren't many fish that had passed by their raft, and the ones that did were fairly deep underwater. Eventually, she caught three. One, she noticed, was considerably smaller than the others. "I guess this is mine," she said.

"Are you sure?" Iroh said. He looked genuinely concerned as he asked her. In truth, she was really hungry, but she knew she wasn't the only one.

"Yeah, I'm sure. So…you can cook them for us?"

Iroh nodded. "It won't be a delicacy, but it will be the best thing we've eaten in days." He was grinning. Katara actually laughed.

"I suppose that's true," she agreed.

She had already killed the fish and prepared it. All that was left was for Iroh to use his fire to cook it. He was about to start when they were interrupted.

"I could do that," Zuko's voice came. Katara was more startled than Iroh, and she turned around to see the Fire Nation prince standing beside her. He looked…calmer now, though he was still frowning. He wasn't shouting at least.

"You want to cook the fish?" Katara verified. Zuko looked at her, and for a moment Katara thought it was another glare. Then she realized it was less anger, and more determination.

"That's what I just said. I'll do it."

"Wonderful!" Iroh exclaimed, patting the empty space on the raft. Zuko took his seat there and Iroh's smile grew wider. Zuko stared at Katara expectantly and initially she was confused until she realized…

"You don't know how to cook, do you?" Zuko just scowled. "What, princes never need to cook?"

"No. We have servants for that."

Katara's eye twitched. "Well, sorry, we're fresh out of servants on our driftwood palace." Zuko glared at her. She sighed, trying to relax before they fought _again_. "It's not that hard," she told him. "We're not making fine cuisine. We just don't want the fish raw. So all you need to do is use your fire to cook the fish. That's it. Think you can do that?"

"Of course I can!" Zuko said defensively. "Peasant." He added that as an afterthought. Katara gritted her teeth. _Tui and La,_ she thought. _Please help me survive without going crazy. And_ please _get me away from_ him _as soon as possible._

She offered the smallest fish to Zuko, who punched forward, igniting the fish for a few seconds before putting it out. _He really hasn't cooked before._ When he was done, the fish was visibly overcooked. _Great. He turned my fish into a lump of ash._

"You don't actually set the fish on fire," she snapped at him.

Zuko looked over to her, still holding the fish. "You're the one that said I should quit complaining and help! Now _you're_ complaining?!"

"I think Zuko did well, considering it was the first time he's ever cooked," Iroh intervened. Katara wanted to snap at him, too. _You're not the one eating ash for dinner._ But Zuko paid attention to his uncle, and to Katara's surprise, the prince even looked a little pleased. It had to be the first time she'd seen him…well, he wasn't actually smiling, or happy. But for once, the prince didn't look angry or frustrated. Iroh continued, "Katara is correct, however. You don't normally set the food on fire. We still have two fish left; try holding them just over the fire."

Zuko nodded, grabbing the next fish offered to him. For a moment, he glanced at Katara, and she could have sworn she saw him blush. The two other fish weren't too great either. One was burnt again, but it was nowhere nearly as bad as the first one (this time, at least, it hadn't been set on fire). The other one was done unevenly, with tips of it looking slightly raw. Iroh took the uneven one. Katara glared at the first one, which she had already offered to eat. Her stomach growled with hunger, and Katara supposed it would have to do. Reaching out for it, however, Zuko offered her the less burned, larger fish. She looked at him incredulously.

He wasn't meeting her eyes, and once again she could have sworn he looked embarrassed. "Just take the stupid fish," he muttered. She took it from him, leaving him with the worst of the three.

The three of them sat in silence, eating the fish. Every once in a while, someone would be heard gagging. None of the three fish turned out well, but admittedly, it was better than starving.

"Thanks," Katara finally said, looking to Zuko, whose face was pinched as he ate the burnt fish. "You know…for cooking the fish." He was quiet for a moment and Katara thought that maybe he would just ignore her.

"It's fine," he finally said. After waiting a few more moments, he spoke again. "Thank you…for the fish."

"You're welcome," she said. It became quiet again after that as everyone finished eating their fish. Once again, Katara was reminded of how awkward the entire situation was and found herself wishing that she were back with Aang and Sokka.

The raft was mostly silent as Katara and Iroh once again worked together to create fresh water. This time Zuko took the offered water without complaint, acknowledging Katara's efforts with a small nod. Katara and Zuko didn't speak again before Zuko lay down and went to sleep. And as Iroh's snores filled the air, Katara figured that it was probably for the best that they didn't talk more than they had to. She didn't really want to talk to Zuko, anyways. Iroh, however, seemed happy to talk, and worse yet, actually seemed likeable. Katara was with them for survival; for now they weren't her enemies. But they'd never be her friends, and no matter how long she was on the raft with them, she couldn't afford to forget that. So she decided to speak to them as little as possible.

She wasn't going to get attached.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if the timeline of this fic is too confusing. Or anything else, for that matter.


	6. Part 1 Chapter 6: Not So Different

As the next two days on the raft passed by, Katara closely abided her decision not to talk to Iroh and Zuko. She slept, woke up, worked with Iroh to make drinkable water, and would catch fish which Zuko would then cook for them. She didn't talk to them, unless it was something important. They worked out their dynamics, how they'd work together to survive, and that was all they needed. Katara didn't need to talk to them.

Zuko seemed to have made the same decision−or maybe, Katara considered, he really was just unsocial. It was kind of odd to think of the angry prince as taciturn or quiet, but he spent most of his time on his side of the raft. _At least he's not complaining_ , Katara reflected. After their first day of near-constant fighting, he hadn't really said anything to her. He would just come over and cook whatever Katara had caught, thank her for the fish, usually frowning the whole time, and then silently go back to his side of the raft. And that was fine with Katara. If she was doomed to be stuck with him, at least he was staying out of her way. She would occasionally notice him looking at her; he'd immediately turn away if she caught him. She only bothered to say anything about it twice.

The first time, Zuko had gotten upset again.

"Why are you staring at me?" Katara had snapped.

Zuko was, of course, scowling. "What?! I'm not staring at you!" He folded his arms.

"I just saw you!" She glared at him, meeting his gold eyes challengingly.

"Why would I want to stare at you, peasant?"

At that point, Iroh had intervened.

The second time Katara said anything, Zuko got upset again, but this time he had turned it around onto Katara.

"Quit staring at me!"

"Me?! You've been staring at me! You think I don't notice?" His voice rang with defiant indignation.

Katara blushed. "I-what else am I supposed to look at? We haven't exactly got the most diverse view, you know!" She waved her hand to the expansive ocean, which was just as endless as it had been the day before.

The Fire Nation prince scowled deeper. "So it's okay for you to stare at me because you've got nothing better to do, but not for me to do the same?"

At that point, Katara had just turned away from him. She reminded herself not to talk to him.

Iroh was another story. The Firelord's brother was as oddly friendly as ever. Whereas his nephew had turned to sulking and steaming on one side of the raft, he remained cheerful, and would continue to try and initiate conversation with both of them. He spent more time with Zuko, thankfully. Katara would sometimes observe them. _They seem close_ , she thought. The more she saw of them, the more she realized just how close. Angry as Zuko was, he showed another side when he was talking to his uncle. He would still be frowning, and Katara could hear the complaint in his voice, even if he tried to speak quietly. But he would actually talk to his uncle. And he seemed to value what his uncle had to say−whereas Katara would thank Zuko for cooking the fish and be done with it, Iroh would tell him what he'd done well, and what he needed to work on. And while the prince would always look disappointed when his uncle told him what needed improvement, he also looked the closest to happy when Iroh praised him.

 _Yes_ , Katara thought. _It's a good thing he's here, too._

But it also made it that much harder not to talk to them.

After Iroh would talk to Zuko, he would come to Katara's side of the raft and try to initiate a conversation with her. She would try to shut down the conversation, but in truth, it was hard. Iroh would come over offering a smile, asking if she was okay, and when Katara would try to shut him out, the old man would just look _so_ disappointed. It sort of stung−it just wasn't in Katara's nature to upset people. She'd feel guilty every time his smile slipped, but she'd find a new way to occupy herself, and she'd move on.

Eventually, though, she had to admit defeat.

By the fourth day, the silence was unbearable.

Katara had never considered herself to be particularly extroverted. True, she would often be the first to go up to new faces, the first to shout "Hi!" and eager to make new friends, but she had never needed to speak. She was alright with silence and when it seemed that nobody wanted to talk, that was fine with Katara. Sometimes, she needed peace and quiet, too, and she hadn't ever really felt a large _need_ to converse. But then, she had never actually tried to go days without talking to people. Spirits, she missed Sokka and Aang. The fact that they were probably missing her only made the matter worse. She wanted to be with them, to tell them that she's okay, to talk to and just be with. She'd even be happy to wash Sokka's clothes. And she was even starting to miss Aang's marble trick, silly as it was.

As awkward as it was to be stuck with two enemies, Katara was starting to find it even more awkward to ignore them.

When Iroh came over to Katara to create fresh water again, he asked, as he always did, if she was alright.

Katara gave a small shrug as she bent the water. Two balls, one of salt water, and one of fresh water, which she was constantly taking from the air. She was improving, she noted with satisfaction. Whereas she could only take back a small fraction of the vaporized water on the first day, now she was able to take more and more back into liquid form. It was becoming much easier to do the whole process; the first time she and Iroh had done this, Katara had struggled to juggle the many things she was doing. Holding the ball of salt water, taking the water from the air, and holding the fresh water, all with two hands. She had barely managed it, and it had taken all of her concentration. The water was more blob than ball, and would frequently ripple and drip. But after three days of practice, she was finding that the process was becoming much easier. She was able to take the water from the air without severely disturbing the fresh water she was holding, and the sea water was almost completely unaffected by what she did with her other hand. _Even Master Pakku would have to be impressed,_ Katara thought.

It seemed her waterbending training was still going on.

"I'm alive," she answered Iroh. It wasn't _"I'm okay"_ or _"My life sucks right now."_ She wasn't okay. She felt lonely, even though she wasn't alone. But she was alive, and with life, came hope. _We may be surrounded by ocean right now, but we may find land, or be rescued._

Iroh gave a small "Hm" in acknowledgement of Katara's response. Every other time he had asked her how she was, she'd given him a bland response and stopped talking. He'd only look disappointed before moving on. He seemed to expect her to do the same now, but Katara was lonely, and despite her previous resolution to not speak to her raft-mates, she found that she needed some human interaction before she went crazy.

"What about you?" she asked him. "Are you alright?" Iroh smiled, and Katara had to admit, she was glad to see the old general smiling again.

"I am well enough," he told her. "I do wish I had brought some tea leaves. I've gone far too long without any!" Katara laughed; of all the things wrong with their situation, he was most upset at the lack of tea? "When we find land, I'll have to make you a cup. I've had much experience with making tea, and I know how to bring out the best flavors." He smiled at her. "Making you a good cup of tea will be the least I can do for all you've done."

Despite her own view on the matter, Katara smiled back. "I'm just doing my part to survive this." And if they did survive, she doubted that she'd be sparing time to drink tea with Iroh. She'd have to track down Aang and Sokka. While she'd certainly hope they'd still be at the North Pole, the longer it was before she was on land again, the less likely they were to be there. After all, they had a time limit. Aang had to master all the elements before Sozin's Comet; he couldn't stick around the North Pole for long. He'd have to make his way back to the Earth Kingdom. They had discussed the possibility of going back to Omashu and getting Bumi to train him. _If I ever get back to land_ , Katara decided, _I'm going to Omashu. Even if Aang isn't there yet, maybe I can just wait for him._

"This isn't the best of circumstances, I know," Iroh spoke again. "But the view isn't that bad."

Katara raised her eyebrow. "We're surrounded by the ocean. We have been for the past week, and will continue to be for who knows how long. Even a waterbender finds that view sort of dull after a while."

"Hmm," Iroh nodded. "But the clouds are different every day. And we have a better view of the sunrise and sunset than nearly anyone else in the world."

Katara smiled as she let out a breath. "I suppose that's true," she acknowledged. They worked together for a few more minutes in silence. This silence, though, was more companionable than the silence of the last two days. It was comfortable, and after a few minutes, a thought occurred to Katara. "What happened to your ship and your crew? Were they…at the North Pole?" If they were, Katara realized, then they were almost undoubtedly dead.

Iroh nodded grimly, no longer smiling. "The crew was assimilated into Admiral Zhao's fleet before the invasion. They were there." The old general sighed, shaking his head sadly, and he looked much older than he had minutes before.

"Will you miss them?" As soon as the words left Katara's mouth, she realized how ridiculous they were; Iroh was so friendly, and had spent much time with them. Of course he'd miss them.

"I will," Iroh confirmed. "I spent three years on that ship with them. I spoke to them, ate with them. We enjoyed music nights together and would regularly speak about our homes, our families." Iroh closed his eyes. "Most of them, thankfully, didn't have spouses, or children. But those that did…my pain is nothing to what they will feel."

Katara looked away from Iroh, looking at the growing ball of fresh water. She had never really thought about the Fire Nation's side of the story. The war was wrong, the Firelord was evil, and needed to be stopped, but she had never paused to think about the Fire Nation's soldiers. Their wives and children. _Each Earth Kingdom town saved, each victory we gain, is a loss to some Fire Nation family,_ Katara realized. _I lost my mother to a firebender…how many firebenders have lost_ their _mothers and fathers to the war?_

The silence lasted only a moment as Katara processed this reality. Only a moment, but it was sickening. "I'm sorry for their loss," Katara said quietly. _This war is giving everyone grief. That's why we all need the Avatar._ "Does Zuko miss his crew? On a personal level, I mean. Not just for doing chores."

Iroh sighed, looking over to his nephew, who was sitting on the other side of the raft. He was looking away from them, and Katara hoped that he hadn't heard her mention him. Talking to Iroh was easy, almost normal despite their respective loyalties, but talking to Zuko was another thing altogether. "My nephew would never admit to feeling the pain of their loss," Iroh told her. "But I do believe he feels it. After all, they were the only people he really interacted with for three years. Even though he never tried to socialize with them, or even tried to be friendly, I do believe that Zuko misses them." Iroh stopped for a moment, and his mouth became thin, his eyes narrowed. "I told Zhao not to trifle with the spirits. I warned him."

"Thanks," Katara said suddenly. "I remember, you tried to get him to let the Moon Spirit go. Thanks for trying."

Iroh nodded. "I had to. The world is already out of balance…but for the Moon Spirit to be killed would have been a point of no return. All would have suffered." Katara nodded in agreement. It wouldn't be for some time later that she stopped to think about how the Firelord's brother just admitted that the world was out of balance, and just what the implications were.

"So…I suppose Zhao would have been killed in the wave, right?" Katara had just thought of it. It would, at least, lend some justification to the situation she was in. At least then, the wave that left her stranded in the middle of the ocean would have achieved something.

Iroh however shook his head. "The Ocean Spirit was furious. After La destroyed the fleet, he returned to the city. He found Zhao and took him into the water…Zhao will never be seen in this world again…I doubt his fate was pleasant."

Katara shivered, thinking of what the crazy Admiral's fate may have been. She was glad to hear that he was gone; the man had been a lunatic, and had endangered the whole world. Still, the spirits were undoubtedly angry, and whatever awaited the man would probably be one of the worst punishments the spirits could inflict. "So, you saw him being taken?"

"No," Iroh told her. "Zuko did, and he told me about what happened while we waited for you to wake up." Iroh's smile returned, and he once again became the genial old man. "You should ask Zuko to tell you about it. It's quite the story, even if Zuko's storytelling skills could use some work."

Katara laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. "I'm sorry, but I think we've already established that Zuko and I shouldn't talk to each other. All we do is make each other angry, and I don't feel like making you play mediator any more than you have to."

Iroh gave a small shrug, still smiling. "Perhaps. But I think the two of you could get along quite well, if you gave each other a chance. In all honesty, you're actually not so different from him."

Katara's eyes widened, and she then she scowled, dropping the water she'd been holding up. "Hey! I'm _nothing_ like Zuko!" she shouted indignantly.

Iroh's mouth twitched as he continued smiling. Katara just glared at him for a moment, wondering what he found so funny. Had she been paying attention, she'd have noticed that Zuko was now staring at them, listening to their conversation with disbelief. Slowly, Katara realized what it was that Iroh found so amusing. "Alright, fine. I just acted like Zuko. But I assure you, our similarities end there."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Iroh told her. "And you won't know unless you try to talk to him. I think you may be surprised." Katara continued to frown. _Zuko's just a big firebending jerk,_ she thought. Iroh continued, "If nothing else, I think it could do Zuko some good to spend time with someone closer to his own age."

Katara blinked. "How old is Zuko?"

"He turned sixteen earlier this year." Iroh was smiling fondly.

Katara blinked again. Zuko was sixteen? She had never consciously thought about how old Zuko was. She knew he was young, and she could remember the first time she'd seen him.

_"You're just a child!"_

_"Well, you're just a teenager."_

Somehow, though, she hadn't ever really processed this. She looked over to where Zuko was sitting. He was looking their way, and Katara realized that he'd probably heard at least part of their conversation. He met her eyes for a brief moment, before turning away to glare into the distance. She had a perfect view of his unscarred side, and from there she could see how old he was. _Huh. He really isn't much older than Sokka._ She supposed his hairstyle, combined with his constant scowling, had been what obscured his age.

"My nephew hasn't spoken to anyone his own age in nearly three years," Iroh told her. "I do think it would help him."

"Maybe," Katara said. "But all he and I do is argue. That's not helping anyone."

"But perhaps if you do speak to him," Iroh pointed out. "Then you and he could learn to speak without arguing. We don't know how long we will remain adrift. Do you really think you and he can continue ignoring each other?" Katara frowned. It _was_ awkward. But would trying to talk to him be any less so? Katara looked over to the teenage prince again.

Katara gave a small sigh. "I dropped the water we collected earlier," she said, changing the subject. She pulled some of the water she'd dropped from the raft, and pulled another ball of salt water. "We'll have to start again."

She and Iroh set back to work on making drinkable water, talking about a variety of harmless subjects. Iroh, she learned, loved tea, and could name a million different plants to make tea with. Eventually, they finished, and after they drank their shares of water, she got up and went over to Zuko. The prince sat alone on his side of the draft, as he usually did, looking out at the ocean. Katara almost wondered what went through his mind as he stared across the endless water.

"Here," she offered. Zuko turned to her, and drank the water while she waited and bent the water to his mouth. She sat near him…not close, but close enough to talk.

After Zuko finished drinking, he looked to her. He wasn't glaring, at least. "Thank you," he said. It was awkward, and quiet, but it gave Katara courage to speak to him.

"You're welcome." She waited for a few more moments, trying to think of what she could possibly talk to him about. "Your uncle told me to ask you about Zhao." Zuko scowled again. "He said you saw him being taken by the Ocean Spirit. Could you tell me about it?"

Zuko continued to scowl, and Katara wondered if he'd just ignore her, or blow up at her. "I fought Zhao," Zuko finally said. "At the North Pole, I fought him."

Katara raised an eyebrow. But then, was it so surprising? As obsessed as Zuko was with capturing Aang, maybe even he saw the madness in killing the moon. "Why would you fight Zhao? He was on your side, wasn't he?"

"Zhao has _never_ been on my side!" Zuko snapped. "He has always hated me−even as a child. I don't know what I ever did to him, but he has always taken _every_ chance he's had to spite me. Don't you remember what happened at the temple?"

Katara thought back. "Roku's temple? Zhao tied you up, didn't he?" That was strange, now that she thought about it. Tying up a prince of your own nation?

Zuko nodded. "When I saw him at the North Pole, I couldn't possibly turn away from that fight. And it was my right, after he tried to have me killed." Zuko was gritting his teeth.

Katara's eyebrows rose. "He tried to kill you? When was this?" And what had Zhao been thinking? Did he figure the Firelord would _thank_ him for killing his son?

Now Zuko was glaring at her. "Pirates," he told her. "I never would have met them if you hadn't stolen that scroll!"

"What?!" What was he getting upset at her for−and when did the conversation turn to those pirates? That had been ages ago!

"Zhao hired those same pirates to kill me," Zuko told her. "I wouldn't have met them in the first place if it weren't for you!"

"So now it's my fault they tried to kill you?" she said, frowning incredulously. " _You're_ the one that decided to work with them, and then attack them!"

They glared at each other for a moment. _I knew this was a bad idea._ But then they turned away from each other. After a few moments, Zuko began speaking again. "They snuck onto the ship after Zhao took my crew. The planted a bunch of explosives and blew up the whole ship." Katara listened, shivering slightly as she remembered those pirates. "It didn't work," Zuko concluded.

Katara sniggered a bit. "Obviously." Zuko glared at her again, but she didn't return it this time. "So…when you saw Zhao at the North Pole, you attacked him to get revenge for trying to kill you?"

"I was well within my rights to kill him for what he did." Zuko frowned. "The Ocean Spirit got in the way."

"So…if the Ocean Spirit hadn't killed him, then you would have?" she clarified.

Zuko was quiet for a long moment before he continued. "When it grabbed Zhao, I offered my hand to Zhao. I asked him to take it, so I could…save him. But he refused. He chose to die rather than be indebted to me." It became silent after that. Katara's eyes widened. _Zuko tried to save Zhao? Even after the man tried to kill him?_ It was…certainly an interesting story to hear. In fact, as Katara thought about it, it sounded like something that belonged in her tribe's legends. She could almost hear her tribe's elders telling the story to eager children, a story of cruelty, vengeance, and, ultimately, mercy. But the truly odd part was… _Zuko would be the hero of the story_. It was…amazing, strange, and unexpected. Katara opened her mouth to ask…something. Why Zuko had done it, who had been winning the fight when La interrupted, _something_ , but she could see that Zuko was consumed by his own thoughts. He was staring out at the ocean once more. Katara excused herself, still contemplating her (actually civil) conversation with Zuko as she used her waterbending to catch fish.

And perhaps later, when they ate the fish, her thank-you to Zuko may have been just a little bit warmer.


	7. Part 1 Chapter 7: A Moment

Things continued much the same over the next few days.

Katara would wake up. Although she wouldn't sleep too late into the day, Zuko and Iroh were always awake before her. "Firebenders rise with the sun," Iroh told her once. The words sounded familiar, but Katara couldn't entirely place from where. But when Iroh said it, she had noticed Zuko look away from her, and she could guess where she'd heard it. _It must be like with waterbenders_ , she thought. _If waterbenders are stronger at night when the moon is out, then firebenders are stronger at day…_

Iroh would smile and say "Good morning!" and ask if she slept well. She'd return his greeting, and tell him that she slept well enough. Surprisingly well, considering her company. After the first few nights of difficulty in falling asleep, she had begun to find it easier. Perhaps because she was exhausted from the first couple nights. Perhaps it was because she was becoming more adjusted to the wobbling driftwood. Or maybe, just maybe, she was becoming a little more comfortable with her company…not that she _said_ that.

Zuko wouldn't acknowledge her except for looking at her for a moment, and then looking away. While that certainly wasn't friendly, it wasn't hostile, either. He wasn't glaring at her every time he looked at her anymore−well, not completely glaring, anyways. He was still almost always frowning, except when he was talking to his uncle, in which Zuko's expression became a more neutral, the closest thing to happy Zuko seemed to be capable of.

(Katara idly wondered if there was anyone in the world besides Iroh capable of bringing out that expression on Zuko.)

She and Iroh would set to work in turning the salt water around them into fresh water. This quickly became a relaxing, and even enjoyable, task for Katara. After all, she was practicing her bending as she did it. It took an enormous amount of concentration to juggle everything she was doing, but every day her blobs of water became more refined, every day she could take more and more water from the air. Katara thought back to a conversation she'd had with Master Pakku. He told her about the strengths and weaknesses of waterbending. The first, of course, was that there had to be water present to bend. Another one was that waterbending could, at times, be hard to fully utilize in the thick of a battle.

_"Our movements are fluid," he explained. "Just like the element we bend. And this is how the art began. But it can also put us at a disadvantage compared to the other elements."_

_"How?" Katara asked, ever eager to learn more about her element. "I mean, no bending art is stronger or weaker than the others, right?"_

_"That is true," Pakku agreed. "But, as I've been trying to explain, all elements have their weaknesses. This is one of ours." He motioned her to follow him to the canal. "Watch closely; you see that I can form shields of ice. I can send blasts of many designs to attack my opponent." He demonstrated several moves before stopping and talking again. "But water takes more concentration than most other elements. Whereas air can be sent to sweep away many opponents, or earth can be thrown through one burst of movement, waterbending requires concentration to continue controlling the movements…what happens if you only throw the water at your opponent?" he asked Katara._

_"It just splashes them," she answered, recalling her early fights with firebenders. It had done a good enough job of distracting them, but only for a second. It didn't really help much in a real fight._

_Master Pakku gave a curt nod. "We must continue controlling the water in every movement. Every shield, every water whip. Do you understand how this weakens us?"_

_Katara thought about it. "Our bending can take longer than other elements?"_

_"Every one of the other elements can give a basic push and release their elements towards the target. Once that is done, they can then go onto their next move. We can't do that, and this especially weakens us when we're outnumbered."_

_"Because they could tag-team us," Katara concluded. "While we're busy concentrating to fight one skilled opponent, another one can come and get through us."_

_Master Pakku nodded, and Katara felt a bit of pride as she saw his approval. "Yes. We are vulnerable in fights against more than one opponent. Unless they are in a position where we can eliminate them at the same time, we may not be able to take them both. We turn our defense into our offence, but very few waterbenders have enough control over their bending to do two separate actions."_

Katara felt proud as she bent the salt and fresh water−she was doing what Pakku said few waterbenders could do. And she was getting better at it. And she was overcoming the first weakness, too, by taking water from the air.

Katara would talk to Iroh, and it became less and less awkward. The man was like a beacon of friendliness and wisdom. Both of which he seemed to enjoy sharing. He had a large collection of proverbs, which actually seemed to grate on Zuko's nerves. She remembered hearing him complain a few times. Katara found herself warming up to Iroh. He was Fire Nation…but he also seemed to be a good person. Actually, he almost reminded her a little bit of Master Pakku in his less cranky moments. She could see the two old masters as friends, if they ever met each other.

Of course, if they ever did meet, then that would be very bad. A meeting between the Firelord's brother and a waterbending master could only be in a very vicious fight.

(And Katara didn't want either of them hurt.)

Katara would use her waterbending to catch fish. This was the quietest of her daily activities. It reminded her of life back at the South Pole, when she was completely self-taught, when it was just her and Sokka. It reminded her of life on the way to the North Pole, when it was just her, Sokka, and Aang. She missed them so much…and they undoubtedly were missing her. _They must think I'm dead by now_ , Katara thought sadly. _I've been gone for over a week, almost two. I'm so sorry, guys…I_ will _find you again, I promise._

And then Zuko would cook the fish. He was getting better at it, at least sort of. At the very least, he didn't set any of the fish on fire. Some would be unevenly cooked, some would be burned, some weren't fully cooked. Katara would thank him for cooking the fish, and he'd thank her for catching them. It was still stiff, and they'd look at each other oddly.

At least they hadn't fought too much. Whenever they did, Katara always felt guilty for making Iroh have to play mediator. Now she and Zuko could have…a slightly more civil conversation. Not like the conversations she'd have with Iroh. Those were exceedingly warm and carefree, more like talking to a trusted elder than to an enemy. Her conversations with Zuko were more stilted and clipped. She didn't really know what to talk about with him.

She didn't want to talk to Zuko about Aang—she really didn't want to talk about anything concerning the Avatar with Zuko. What peace they had accomplished would almost certainly be broken the moment Zuko's chase came back into the picture.

She didn't want to talk about her family−whereas she had spoken to Iroh a little bit about Sokka and her father, she didn't really want to broach the subject with Zuko. They may be civil, but she really didn't feel comfortable talking about something so personal with him.

She really didn't want to talk about the war at all. No, she did want to talk about it. She wanted to yell and shout at the two Fire Nation royals, yell about the earthbenders in prisons, yell about the Air Nomads, yell about her mother being taken away from her, but she knew she couldn't do that. Zuko would undoubtedly yell back, and then they'd be fighting again, and then they would just be back where they were before.

(There is no war on a raft.)

Iroh thanked Katara, and wished her to have pleasant dreams, before he settled down and went to sleep. Katara stayed awake, gazing at the moon. _Yue. Please help me get home_ , she thought. _Please help me get back to Sokka and Aang. I can't abandon them._ Finally, Katara sighed and turned away.

And there was Zuko, standing not far away, glaring towards her.

She scowled back. "What're you glaring at me for?"

Zuko's expression met hers. "I'm not glaring at you," he snapped.

"Seriously? I saw you!"

"Why do you assume every time I'm looking in your direction I'm looking at you? I don't care about you!" Zuko's voice was getting louder.

Katara wanted to snap back at him, but she heard Iroh's snores. So she just put her hand to her head, squeezing her temple. "Look, can we not fight right now? Your uncle's trying to sleep, and I really don't want to make him wake up to play mediator between us." Zuko frowned deeper, but he nodded. For the next few minutes, they stood there. Zuko, she now saw, was gazing out past her. "So…what are you looking at then?"

Zuko looked to her, looking slightly confused as he frowned. "The ocean."

Katara blinked. She turned around to look at where he'd been looking, and then turned back to him. "Well…yeah. I mean, it's not like there's much else to look at." Her lips twitched.

Zuko scowled deeper, and his face turned slightly red. "You're the one who asked!"

"Sorry, sorry," Katara quickly apologized. "I guess what I really meant to ask, was what are you thinking about?"

Zuko calmed down a little, but continued frowning. For a moment Katara thought he was going to just ignore her, but then he responded. "I was thinking about how much I really hate this. This stupid raft! I'm stuck here…my uncle's stuck here…and you're stuck with us." Zuko shook his head. "And I just wonder if we're ever going to make it off. If we're ever going to make it to land again."

"We will," Katara said reflexively.

Zuko looked at her and scowled. "That's naïve. You have no way of knowing when we'll make it to land− _if_ we'll make to land."

"And you're being pessimistic," she shot back. "Look, we're alive aren't we? We've got water, we've got food. We can make it! So long as we're alive, we've still got hope. We haven't lost until we give up." Zuko's eye widened a little bit, and he looked a bit struck.

"Never give up without a fight," he said quietly. Katara nodded.

"We will make it, Zuko." She frowned, a look not of anger or sadness, but of determination. "I'm not letting my life end here."

For a moment, Zuko continued to look at her, appearing slightly awestruck, then he nodded firmly. "Me neither. I just…" He let out a frustrated sigh. "Sometimes I wonder if the Spirits hate me. All the luck I had in my life…was all taken just for me to be born." He said this cynically, bitterly, and all Katara could do was stare. She could only stare, because this was…unfamiliar. She was well acquainted with angry "I-must-capture-the-Avatar!" Zuko. She was familiar with the Zuko that enjoyed being praised by his uncle. She knew the silently seething Zuko.

But this melancholy Zuko…she'd never seen him before.

So she just took a few steps closer to him, trying to offer a small smile. "We'll make it through this," she told him firmly. Zuko looked at her again, and, going back to frowning, nodded stiffly. They stood there awkwardly, neither knowing what best to do. Katara considered lying down and sleeping, but her heart was going faster, and she felt just a little bit weaker in the knees. In retrospect, she'd know that this was a moment where everything had changed. She had stepped onto a new path; put her foot through a door she hadn't even known was there. Even now she could feel that the moment she and Zuko had just shared was…different. It was something wholly unexpected, but also pleasant. Special.

For now, she had no idea what it meant, and didn't know what to do next.

Zuko was the first to break the silence−the first time he'd initiated any of their conversations. "You must miss your friends."

She nodded slowly. "I do. My brother…and Aang. You know the girl that became the Moon Spirit? My brother was in love with her," she continued without waiting for him to respond. "She was sort of my friend, too."

"I didn't know Zhao was going to kill the moon," Zuko told her. "I don't think it was a good idea." Katara gave a small snort of laughter.

"No, really? Was it the vast darkness everywhere or the giant Ocean Spirit monster that tipped you off?" Zuko scowled and glared at her again. She put her hands up. "I'm kidding. Really. And…I'm glad you didn't support it." Zuko nodded stiffly. "And I suppose you must miss your ship…and your crew."

Zuko frowned and looked away from her. "It…doesn't matter," he said, but his voice betrayed a little bit of sadness. "I never really bothered to get to know any of them." _But that really bothers you now, doesn't it?_

Normally, Katara would respond to such a situation by comforting a person, hugging them, holding their hand, offering support…but this is so strange with Zuko. She doesn't really want to touch him, and she's certain that he wouldn't want her comfort anyways. So she changes the topic. "When we get back to land," she says, stressing 'when'. "I'm going to get back to Aang and Sokka." She notices Zuko's eyes narrow. "But I'm sure you already figured that."

He nodded. "I could follow you, you know. Or I could actually take you prisoner."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Oh, that's smart. Tell the bender surrounded by her element, who supplies you with food and drinkable water that you're going to take her prisoner. That couldn't _possibly_ end badly."

"I could still follow you. You can't really do anything to stop me…and you have to have known that this wouldn't change anything."

Katara nodded, looking down slightly. Her eyes were sad. "I know. I knew we'd go back to where we were before. I'll never stop helping Aang, and I suppose you'll never stop trying to capture him. We're enemies. But…I suppose it will be hard." She looked over to Iroh. "Your uncle is a good man. Even if he is Fire Nation. He's just…" She shook her head. "It's hard not to think of him as a friend." She narrowed her eyes, looking back to Zuko. "I suppose you'll just keep chasing Aang? Like none of this ever happened?"

"I have to," he told her.

 _Why?_ she wanted to scream. But it sounded stupid in her mind. He was Fire Nation. The Firelord's son−of course he'd be after the Avatar. Aang was the only one who could defeat the Firelord and end the Fire Nation's century-long rampage of domination and destruction. Of course Zuko would be after the Avatar. They were enemies.

"Did the Avatar ever tell you about the time I rescued him?" Zuko asked, drawing her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she exclaimed. "When was this?!" She couldn't recall any time that Zuko had helped Aang.

"Zhao captured him. I broke him out."

Katara knit her eyebrows together. "Aang was never captured by Zhao." Not that he'd ever told her, anyways.

"He was," Zuko told her. "It was quite a while ago. Zhao managed to capture him and hold him in a base. I infiltrated it and broke the Avatar out." The Fire Nation prince gave a small smirk. "I didn't even use my firebending."

Katara looked at him dubiously. "Prove it."

His face scrunched up as he thought of some way to verify his story. "Frogs," he said suddenly. "He had a bunch of partially frozen frogs in his clothes." Katara's jaw dropped in recognition. "They started escaping, and I had to drag him away from them to get out of the base." Zuko scowled, an expression of irritation and disgust. "He said his friends needed to suck on them." He was now looking oddly at Katara.

She nodded slowly, still in shock. "Yeah…my brother and I were sick. Aang went to a herbalist for a remedy, and she told him that those frogs could cure us." She frowned. "It was really disgusting." Katara looked over to Zuko. "I suppose…you were just trying to capture him yourself?" He nodded. Katara opened her mouth and then sighed. "I can't believe he never told me…" Aang had been in danger, and she hadn't known? Of course, she had been sick, but why hadn't he told her when he came back? Katara didn't like secrets… "Thanks for getting Aang out, anyways," she said. And then, after a few more moments, "Did I ever thank you for saving my life? After the wave…Well, thank you, Zuko." She looked at him, offering a small smile.

Zuko looked surprised at her genuine thanks. "I…you're welcome? I couldn't just…" The Fire Nation prince looked away from her. "It wouldn't have been right to leave you there."

"Well, thanks." Katara let out a yawn. "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now," she said, lying down. "Goodnight, Zuko."

She closed her eyes, quickly feeling the weightlessness of sleep.

"…Goodnight…Katara."

* * *

Aang and Sokka left the North Pole only two days after their search for Katara ended. It was fast, but that felt right. Sokka in particular was eager to leave the North Pole behind. "Lovely city," he told Aang in a dry tone. "But I honestly don't think I can even look at this place without thinking of Yue and Katara." The city was painful.

Aang had initially figured that they could go the way they came, on Appa, but Chief Arnook and Master Pakku had suggested an alternative.

"I'm leaving for the Southern Water Tribe," Pakku told them. "And a rather considerable amount of others are coming with me. Especially waterbenders. Katara told me all about the state of your home, and it's high time we go help our sister tribe."

Sokka's eyes lit up. "You're going to rebuild our tribe?" he clarified, excitement ringing in his voice. He remembered his Gran-Gran telling him and Katara about the great city the Southern Water Tribe had once called home. He thought of the tents and igloos that housed them now…the lame watchtower which had fallen over at the slightest push…the utter defenselessness of his tribe against the invading firebenders. Pakku and the others…were they really going to rebuild the Southern Water Tribe?

Master Pakku nodded. "Quite a few waterbenders have volunteered. Some, I think, intend on returning to the North Pole when we're done. But I know that many intend on staying in the South, including myself." He frowned. "I've been considering this since Katara told me that she was the last waterbender of the Southern Tribe…but I never thought I'd come bearing the news of her death." The waterbending master's face was drawn, his eyes sad. He looked…well, old.

"You're going to tell Gran-Gran?"

"Someone has to."

"You sure she's gonna want to hear it from you? I mean, she did run to the other side of the world to avoid marrying you."

Pakku frowned at him. "Perhaps Kanna won't be happy to see me," he acknowledged. "But I don't think the news of Katara's death should come from a total stranger."

Sokka nodded. "I can't go back, not yet anyways. I still have to help Aang. So thanks, I guess."

Pakku gave him a sympathetic look (which, Sokka thought, looked kind of weird on the man). "Grief, no matter how painful, will pass with time. You'll be alright, Sokka."

Sokka nodded. "Yeah, I know." _Someday._

* * *

Aang guided Appa onto the ship. Appa let out a couple rumbles, mostly as a reaction to the large crowd which was seeing them off. Aang waved to some people as they passed. He sorted through their things…he became distracted as he looked at Katara's things.

There wasn't much. A bit of thread. The Waterbending Scroll that had gotten them into so much trouble. A crown—where had that even come from? A few spare beads for her hair loopies. Aang found that his throat sort of hurt as he looked at these items…He knew that Sokka had the same reaction, finding tears in his eyes. They couldn't look at these items without thinking of Katara. The good times, the bad times, the laughs and the arguments. These items were painful. Still, they knew that it would be even more painful if they didn't keep them…if they had none of Katara left at all.

As if she was never there at all.

And Aang smiled a little bit, his eyes still wet. _You're still with us, somehow, Katara._ He could feel it when he looked at her things.

"Hey," a quiet voice interrupted Aang. He turned around. He smiled, wiping his eyes.

"Hey, Senirra. What are you doing here?"

The young waterbender stood awkwardly, holding one of her wrists with hero ther hand, and offered him a tiny smile. Her appearance was less disconcerting than it had been days previously. "My family has done a lot of thinking since…Saroda's death has sort of changed things. It's just sort of bitter here, right now. So…we're joining Master Pakku's expedition to restore the Southern Water Tribe."

"Really? All of you?" _At least there's some good news_ , Aang thought. But he wished that Katara were still there to see her tribe restored.

Senirra nodded. "Mm-hm. Except for my mother. She actually wanted to come, too, but she can't. She's pregnant, and it's probably not too great for her to be travelling across the world. I don't even know how she got pregnant." Senirra blinked, and Aang knew what was coming. "I mean, I know _how_ she got pregnant…of _course_ I know how. Not that I've ever done it! Not getting pregnant, though I've never done that either, I've never done _things_ to get pregnant…but how did my mother do it…where did she find the time with four children, three of us still living with her?" Aang laughed. He knew that she wasn't actually trying to be funny, but still. Senirra gave an embarrassed laugh, running a hand through her hair. "You know what I mean. Anyways, my family really just needs to get away for now, you know?"

"Yeah," Aang agreed. It was a shame. The city was so beautiful…and now so stricken with grief.

"We might return," Senirra continued. "Or we might not. We'll see how it goes in the South." She shrugged. She stood there awkwardly for a moment, and she noticed Katara's things. "I'm sorry you couldn't find her," she told him. She looked away. "I miss Saroda," she admitted.

Aang nodded. "I miss Katara." He looked away, and he saw Sokka coming to the ship. "We still have family," he said quietly. He offered Senirra a smile. "We just need to hold on to the ones we still have."

She nodded. "Draw strength from the remains," she said. "That's something my grandfather used to say."

"It's good advice."

They stopped speaking again for a moment. Then Senirra brightened slightly. "So, I talked to Turotok−that's my oldest brother−and he agreed that since girls are going to be allowed to learn combative waterbending, and since we're going to the South, anyways, that he could teach me."

Aang smiled. "That's great, Senirra."

"Thanks." Left unspoken was Katara's hand in the new direction the Water Tribes were heading. _Her legacy_ , Aang thought.

Before long everyone who was leaving was on the ship, Sokka stood apart, looking at Aang and Senirra, but not joining their conversation. Chief Arnook came and addressed them, giving a farewell speech. The chief looked much older than he had when Aang had first arrived at the North Pole. His hair seemed to be turning grey at the new growth…no wonder after what he'd lost. To Aang's recollection, the man had no other children. His line of chiefs had ended.

Senirra smiled at Aang, wishing him luck, before running off to join her brothers and father. Sokka came to Aang.

Their time in the Northern Water Tribe was over. It was time to move on.

* * *

It was on Katara's ninth day awake that she felt sweat pooling on her brow. At first, she wondered if she were imagining it. But when she touched her brow, her fingers felt dampness. She looked up to the sun, and she realized that, yes, she was too warm in her parka. So she took it off, leaving her in her usual outfit. Without the parka, it was pleasantly chilly out. As she sat down to turn the salt water into fresh water, she saw Iroh nodding.

"We are now out of Northern waters. We must be, if your parka is too warm."

Katara nodded. They had been drifting south.

"Hm," Iroh, rubbed his chin. "This is good," he announced. "The Earth Kingdom is very large…" He smiled largely. "Zuko," he said loudly. Zuko came over to them. "The Earth Kingdom is vast, covering more land than any other nation. And heading south from the Northern Water Tribe should take us to the Earth Kingdom's shores…do you two understand what this means?" The old man was smiling, absolutely radiating positivity. The two teenagers just stood there. They knew, of course, but they were still stunned.

"Our time on this raft is about to come to an end."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter in Part 1!


	8. Part 1 Chapter 8: First Flowers

Two day later, they were still on the raft, but there was a new energy to their actions. They knew they were getting close to land, all they had to do was stay alive, and keep their eyes open. They agreed that once they spotted land, Katara could use her waterbending to get them to land quicker.

She and Iroh were preparing fresh water as they had many times before. As they worked, Iroh was humming a song cheerily.

"That sounds like a nice song," Katara commented, pulling water from the air.

"One of my favorites," Iroh agreed. He began to sing. "Winter, spring. Summer and fall. Four seasons, four loves." He grinned. "That's the main verse, anyways. It is missing a little something without accompaniment, but it's still beautiful. When we get to land, I should buy a new tsungi horn, and then Zuko can play it for you!"

"I am _not_ playing the tsungi horn!" came his voice. Katara merely raised an eyebrow.

"Zuko plays the tsungi horn?" It was sort of hard to picture him sitting down and playing any instrument. But, once again, Katara had learned something unexpected about the prince.

"Rarely," Iroh told her, shaking his head in dismay. "He doesn't seem to appreciate music. Quite the shame, really. I remember him playing it as a child. He was quite skilled." Iroh smiled fondly. "Honestly, if he felt like it, he could probably play it better than I could."

Katara smiled. "I'll take your word for it." It was a shame everything would go back to the way they were before.

They continued their process. Iroh's smile became wider before he spoke again. "Do you know what I love about our process?" Katara shook her head. She enjoyed it because it gave her a good way at practicing her waterbending. Why did Iroh enjoy it? It wasn't as though boiling water was any great feat of firebending. "Harmony," Iroh told her. "When we do this, we use two elements, opposites even, and we use them in tandem to create life. Fresh water. Our process wouldn't work without fire's heat to evaporate the water, which you pull from the air, into fresh water. Perfect harmony." He smiled serenely, looking at the orbs of water.

Katara looked at the fire in his hands, under the salt water, and she found herself smiling too. "Wow," she said. "I hadn't thought of that. That's…that's amazing!" _A sort of balance_ , she thought. _Like Aang._

Iroh nodded. "Yes. It's amazing what the different elements can accomplish when they work together. Had it only been you, or only been my nephew and I, our experience on this raft would have been far more unpleasant." He grinned. "Fire and water seem to make quite the team, don't they?"

Katara nodded.

She wondered…

* * *

The next day Katara noticed something.

On Zuko's head.

Her jaw dropped as she stared at him for a while.

Of course, he noticed.

"What are staring at me like that for?!"

"You have hair," she bluntly said.

Zuko furrowed his eyebrows, looking irritated and confused. "What are you, blind? Of course I have hair! I've always had hair."

"Well, yeah, in your ponytail. Now it's growing all over," she told him, motioning around her head.

Zuko blinked, and then brought his hand to his head, fingers grazing across the short little hairs that had grown all over his head. "Well what do you expect me to do? I can't exactly shave out here!" He groaned. "I'll shave it as soon as I can. This must look so stupid…"

"Well, you look pretty stupid with that hairstyle, anyways."

His cheeks turned red. "No, I don't! And you don't get to talk about my hair." He smirked. "You know, yours isn't looking too great, either. Your hair's a mess."

Katara frowned. It was true, she supposed, putting her hand to her hair. Her braid had long since come undone, along with her bun, and she had opted for a more simple style. Either way, her hair had become increasingly tangled. She really needed to detangle it before it turned into a giant, unfixable knot. She really didn't want to have to cut it. For one thing, Water Tribe girls wore their hair long. And, more vainly, she considered her hair to be one of her best features.

"Fine," she told Zuko. "I'm sorry about insulting your hair. It's really none of my business."

Zuko looked a little surprised, perhaps by how easily they had avoided a fight. "Okay then…I'm sorry I insulted your hair." He frowned as he touched his hair again. "I guess we'll both have to groom ourselves when we reach land."

They went about their day normally, but every once in a while, Katara couldn't help but glance over to Zuko. She felt a bit curious and a little disappointed. She wondered what he'd look like if he grew his hair out. At one point she tried to visualize it, then she shrugged and moved on.

* * *

Katara liked talking to Iroh. While she had initially thought his friendliness was strange, bizarre and uncomfortable given who he was, she had come to appreciate him for what he was. A genuinely friendly and wise old man, who was quick to laugh, quick to tell stories, and quick to help.

"You know," she said to him, "sometimes it's hard to believe that you're the Firelord's brother." She froze for a moment, wondering if that may have been the wrong thing to say. After all, Firelord Ozai was still Iroh's brother. He may not appreciate Katara's opinion on him.

Iroh frowned, a slightly sad and troubled expression. "My brother and I are very different people," he told her. He didn't seem angry, and Katara relaxed.

"So how much older is he?" Iroh seemed old enough to be a grandfather. How old was the Firelord, then? It could be useful information. _Then again_ , she thought. _Bumi was over one hundred years old, and he was still incredibly strong. Age doesn't mean much._

"Actually, Ozai is younger than me. By nearly twenty years, in fact."

Katara blinked. "But I thought…doesn't the oldest son inherit the title?" That was how it worked in her tribe, anyways. Of course, the bloodline could be challenged and a new line of chiefs could be established. But, still, if Iroh was the older brother, then… "Shouldn't you be the Firelord?"

Iroh gave a light frown, looking slightly uncomfortable. "That's a long and complicated story…and I suspect even more complicated than I may ever know," he glanced at Zuko as he said this. "Regardless, I honestly don't want to be Firelord." He resumed smiling. "I don't want the crown. Frankly, I'm retired, and I intend on enjoying the beauties of life, such as tea and Pai Sho, for as long as I can. I'd hardly be free to do as I wish with that crown, would I?"

"I suppose not," she agreed. She couldn't help but wonder, though, how things could have been different if Iroh were the Firelord. Iroh just seemed so…peaceful. It was hard to imagine him leading the Fire Nation in war against the world. Would he have continued the war? Would he have tried to make peace between the nations? Would the crown go to Ozai, anyways? To her knowledge, Iroh had no children. If so, then the crown would go to Ozai, and regardless of whether Iroh was a kinder Firelord, Ozai would probably pursue domination anyways. And after him… "Is Zuko next in line for the throne, then?" Did he have any siblings?

"I am," Zuko interrupted. "But only if I capture the Avatar." He was staring intensely at Katara, his gold eyes meeting her blue ones. She clenched her teeth and looked away. Iroh sighed, shaking his head. Katara went to the edge of the raft, looking into the water.

She needed to get some fish, anyways.

* * *

Zuko cooked the fish, one for each of them. This time, the fish were fairly equal in size. Zuko cooked his own last.

"Thanks for cooking the fish," Katara said.

Zuko just nodded. "Thanks for catching them."

A couple weeks ago, these words had been said only for politeness. They'd been hollow, said only because it was the proper thing to say. Now, however, there was a genuineness behind their words. They were more companionable, and they had come to appreciate each other at a level they never would have thought possible. They ate their fish, Iroh telling Zuko that his cooking had much improved.

It really had, Katara noted. She debated whether to offer the compliment.

"I agree," she finally said. Zuko looked over to her, surprised. They never really spoke while eating, aside from their expressions of gratitude. "You've really gotten better at cooking the fish." She offered him a small smile.

"I…Thank you? I should've figured it out quicker. It's not like I've had anything better to do."

"I think you figured it out quicker than I would've." She laughed. "I should show you some other cooking techniques." She blinked after she said it, making eye contact with Zuko, who, once again, had shed the angry and frustrated expression. "Not that I'll be sticking around once we're on land." She looked away from him, staring at her mostly eaten fish. These were dangerous thoughts to be having, even for a moment. She wasn't going to be staying with Zuko and Iroh once they reached land. She was going to find her way back to Aang and Sokka, and Zuko was going to continue trying to capture Aang. They weren't going to be sitting around a shared camp, she wasn't going to be teaching him to cook, and he wasn't going to be playing the tsungi horn.

"Katara?" Zuko's voice was quieter than usual, and she looked back to him. "Thank you. For the compliment, I mean."

She looked at him and nodded.

Beside them, Iroh looked at the two of them with increasing interest.

* * *

Iroh stayed up, watching his nephew and Katara. They rarely spoke, but now, at least, they were capable of doing so without arguing. Zuko went to sleep first, saying an awkward goodnight to Katara. She gazed at the moon for a while.

Iroh was glad that Zuko had rescued her for many reasons.

It had been a bit of a surprise when he had first come on the raft to get Zuko out of the freezing arctic waters. He'd only been expecting his nephew, but instead Zuko had shown him the waterbender, telling him to help pull her out of the water, too. Zuko had pointed out her head wound. When working to heat himself, he had also taken it upon himself to help warm Katara up with his fire. And Iroh was so proud of him for it. Once again, he proved himself to be honorable, full of nobility and capable of great goodness. A far better man than his father.

Iroh was always happy to see those moments, the moments when Zuko's true self revealed itself from behind the shell of anger that Ozai had created. Zuko's Agni Kai with Zhao; Zuko endangering himself to rescue a crew member; and now, rescuing one of his enemies. A friend of the Avatar. Yes, Iroh was very proud.

He was also glad because, as he had told Katara, they wouldn't have done as well without each other. They may have survived without Katara, but it would have been much harder. Days filled with thirst and hunger. And Katara, had she even managed to survive without Zuko's rescue, would have been alone, with an untreated head wound, with no access to fresh water. Yes, it was best for them to be together.

But there had also been a less expected gift which had come from this. Friendship. Iroh had spoken to her freely and while she had initially been unresponsive, either from shyness, or perhaps wariness about speaking to someone from the Fire Nation, they soon developed a friendly relationship. Iroh enjoyed talking to her, and she seemed to appreciate his stories, songs and proverbs.

But, more than that, she was also becoming a friend to Zuko. Within the first day she was awake, Iroh had wondered if it would be possible. She reminded him of Zuko. The way she could be quick to anger, her sense of dignity. And, recalling a certain incident involving pirates and a waterbending scroll, he suspected she may also share at least some of his rashness. Yes, he was almost certain that they could be friends if they tried to talk without arguing. Considering that another one of the traits they seemed to share was stubbornness, it took unsurprisingly long for them to try to have a civil conversation. He had tried approaching the matter with Zuko several times, and of course, he chose not to listen. At the time, Katara had been refusing to speak to both of them. But, finally, when she spoke to him and he suggested she go talk to Zuko, she had. And he had spoken to her.

It would do Zuko much good to talk to someone his own age, Iroh was certain. It had been three years since his nephew had spoken to people his own age (in a friendly manner, at least). And even before, the only people he had ever interacted with were Azula and her friends. And while Azula only seemed to know how to tie people to her with fear, Zuko didn't seem to know how to form ties to new people at all. If this continued, Iroh worried, Zuko could grow into a man who knew his destiny, and right from wrong, but also a man incapable of forming true friendships. And what was life without those?

And it seemed as though the Spirits themselves had sent Katara into Zuko's path. After that first conversation, Katara and Zuko had become far more peaceful with each other. Companionable. Friendly, even. He noticed them talk more, whether it be a few short words, or a decent conversation. She smiled at his nephew. Far too many of the 'smiles' Zuko had been given were malicious smirks.

A few days ago, they had become much friendlier.

After their small conversation at dinner, Iroh began to wonder at exactly how deep this connection of theirs went. How much in common did they have? Where did they complement each other? Maybe Iroh didn't know how Zuko would interact with his friends, as he'd never seen Zuko with any. But after seeing the way they looked at each other, the way Zuko looked at her, he wondered if it was friendship he was seeing, or the start of something different.

 _Of course_ , Iroh noted sadly, _that could all be changed once we reach land._ Katara would leave, return to the young Avatar, and Zuko would continue to pursue them. And then, whatever they had formed, whatever they could have had, would be lost in a cycle of anger and bitterness. It was selfish, Iroh knew, to wish that they could remain lost on the raft for a little longer. And maybe Katara, being from outside the Fire Nation and a friend to the Avatar, could help guide Zuko onto the right path. Help him see the suffering of the world.

But, it seemed that that was not to be the case. Iroh suspected that they'd be reaching land within the next day or so.

He would just have to trust in the Spirits, and trust in his nephew's capability of goodness.

* * *

Their eighteenth day on the driftwood raft was like all the days before it. Zuko and Iroh woke up at dawn. Katara woke up a little while later, and she and Iroh set to creating fresh water. It was around noon that the day changed from the rest.

"Do you see that?" Zuko demanded. He was staring intently at the horizon. "Uncle, Katara, do you see that?"

Katara peered out where Zuko was looking. She gasped. And then a grin formed on her face. "Land! There's land ahead!"

They were all standing, looking out at the small brim of land ahead. They could see the strip along the horizon.

"You can bring us in faster, I believe," Iroh said, looking at Katara. She nodded.

She took a few deep breaths, excitement thrumming within her.

"Katara?" Zuko's voice was quiet, almost hesitant. She turned around to look at Zuko.

"What?"

"I just…" he took his hand and put it on his head, looking away from her. "Thank you. For everything you've done. And…" He looked at her, but still didn't meet her eyes. "I want you to know that I won't take you prisoner when we reach land."

She looked at him, mouth falling a little. "I…do you mean it? You promise?"

He nodded resolutely. "I swear…on my honor."

She looked at him, meeting his eyes. She remembered him tying her to a tree, going on about how he needed to capture Aang to 'restore' his honor. He had just sworn upon it…he claimed he lad 'lost' his, but it was clearly important to him, and… "I believe you. And…for the record, you don't need to restore your honor," she said, thinking of her experiences with him, what she knew of him. What happened with Zhao. How Zuko had even rescued her. "You're probably one of the most honorable people I know." It was a heavy admission, but it felt true. Zuko, despite his hot-headedness, despite his arrogance, despite being the prince of the Fire Nation, was…maybe not a good person, but he definitely had a strong moral code.

Zuko, upon hearing her words, looked shocked. His unscarred eye widened. And then that melted into a very different expression; for the first time ever, Zuko graced Katara with a smile. It really seemed to change his whole face. The scar was still there on one side, but the other side lifted, and his eyes practically glowed. If nothing else came of this adventure, at least Katara got to see him happy, just once. Sokka would never believe her.

"Should we be sitting down, perhaps? This may be unstable, and we wouldn't want anyone to fall out," Iroh said.

Katara nodded, and they all sat down. She took a deep breath. And she pushed their raft forward.

_Finally._

* * *

Even with Katara's bending, it had taken over an hour to reach the land. Still, there was an energy between them, the excitement impossible to contain. Katara didn't take any breaks, not to fish, not to purify water; no, she was entirely focused on getting them to land.

"I like fish as much as the next person," Iroh had said. "But it would be nice to have a little more variety again." Fish had ever been a staple in the diet of the Southern Water Tribe.

Katara wasn't sure if she ever wanted to eat a fish again.

Finally, they reached land. It felt a little unreal to her. But as she slowly bent their way closer to the shore, she knew it wasn't a dream. Finally, they left their raft behind and they stepped off, onto the muddy shore, taking their first steps on land in nearly three weeks.

"I never thought I'd miss walking without worrying about the ground swaying," she exclaimed. She laughed, almost doing a twirl. "I never thought I'd get sick of being surrounded by water!"

"You should try living on a ship for three years," Zuko told her as he walked up the shore. He looked around where they had reached land. "Uncle, does this place seem familiar to you?"

Iroh looked around too, before his face lit up in a huge grin. "Zuko, do you remember that stop we made a year into your search? The resort? With the nice spa?"

Zuko's jaw dropped. "We wasted nearly two whole weeks there! Now we're there again?!" Katara felt a knot form in her stomach.

"Could this be any more perfect? I remember it so well. It was so relaxing, and such a nice little town beside it, too. The food was good, the tea was good, the massages were to die for. And it's friendly territory," he reminded Zuko. "A colony. So we won't have to worry about the Earth Kingdom, and you don't have to worry about actually being in the Fire Nation."

Zuko grumbled. "Fine. But only until we're ready to leave−we're _not_ wasting any more time than we have to here!" He turned to go to the resort. He remembered where it was. He'd been stuck there for plenty of time to remember where it was.

Iroh was smiling.

And Katara was just standing there, mouth open, as she realized just how bad this was for her. "We're in the colonies," she vocalized. And perhaps that was okay for Iroh and Zuko, they were royalty. But for her? The waterbender friend of the Avatar? She was stuck in enemy land. Without allies. She was confident in her abilities, but if it was only her…there was only so much she could do, and _she was stuck in enemy territory_. "I'm in the colonies."

Iroh, at least, seemed to understand. "Zuko," he called to his nephew. "What about Katara?"

"What about her?" he asked as he came back.

"If we leave her, she'll be alone in her enemy's territory. There isn't a friendly village for some way, provided that Katara could find her way out of the colonies. _She could be killed_ , Zuko."

Understanding dawned on Zuko, and he gave Katara a quick glance. "Well, what are we supposed to do about it? We are not spending any more time out in the wilderness. We're not her escorts. And we can't just bring her into town with us."

"Why not?" Iroh asked. He looked to Katara, a huge smile coming onto his face. "I think that's the best option right now."

"I'm sorry," Katara spoke. She wasn't going to just stand around letting them make plans for her. "But I'm pretty sure they'd know I'm Water Tribe. I mean, even if they couldn't figure that out by my eyes, my clothing makes it pretty obvious." She motioned to her blue kimono and her mother's necklace.

"It wouldn't matter," Iroh told her. "If I tell them that you're with us, and to be treated as a friend of mine, then I assure you they'd accept you whether you were Water Tribe or Fire Nation. So what do you say? It's the best option for now, if you'd be willing to spend a few more days with us."

Katara frowned, considering the option. She'd only really been to one other Fire Nation colony, and that hadn't ended particularly well. _Of course, that was mostly due to people realizing that Aang's the Avatar, and Iroh says that they shouldn't care that I'm Water Tribe if he says I'm okay._ So there was that. Still, though, it felt strange and the idea of intentionally spending time in a town full of people loyal to the Firelord wasn't particularly comforting.

"I won't be a prisoner?" she verified slowly, eying the two Fire Nation royals.

"You won't," Zuko said immediately. After all, he had already promised that he wouldn't take her prisoner when they made it back to land.

"I swear upon my lotus tile," Iroh told her. "You will be free to leave as soon as you please."

She considered her options for a long moment. She had no supplies, no idea where exactly she was, and no fast method of transportation. She let out a breath and nodded. "Okay then. I guess I'm coming with you." She sounded surprised at her own words. She _was_ surprised at her own words. But she couldn't leave immediately—not until after she had recovered from the previous two weeks and made preparations to travel by herself.

"Wonderful," Iroh said cheerfully. He began walking and the two teenagers followed. "I'll have to get a massage while we're there. You two should, too, they give the best massages here in all the colonies."

Somewhere along the line, Katara had to admit, she had formed a sort of trust for the two firebenders. _Now I just have to hope I'm not wrong._

Iroh regaled Katara with the details of his last visit to the town two years previously. She smiled, as it was obvious that he had very much enjoyed it. _He deserves some relaxation now, too,_ she thought. _After putting up with me and Zuko for the past few weeks, he probably needs a massage and rest._ He also told her that it was an incredibly beautiful place. The cherry blossoms, he explained, were absolutely gorgeous as they bloomed in the spring, and they practically covered the town.

"You might get to see them," he told her. "It's that time of the year now, when they bloom."

Katara had to admit, she was sort of hoping that she'd get to see them. She'd never really gotten to see any flowers. She knew what they were supposed to look like, of course, but she'd never actually been around anywhere that had any. She had grown up in the South Pole—no flowers there. On the journey to the North Pole, Sokka, Aang, and herself had spent most of their time in the northern hemisphere, where it was winter. What flowers she had seen had looked dead; brown and wrinkled. She had, of course, seen some painting and objects made in the image of flowers. It would be nice to get to actually see real flowers in bloom.

Iroh had suggested that she keep her waterbending secret, if possible. While he said that the people of the colony were typically friendly, they may not react too well if they put it together that she was one of the friends of the Avatar.

"You know, I'm almost insulted that they haven't actually figured out my name," she told him as they walked along. "I mean, I've helped him loads of times. I'm not important enough to remember?" She was mostly joking, really. She was glad she didn't have to use a fake name.

"Just because your name isn't known, doesn't make you any less great. You're more like a legend that way. And legendary is good enough, don't you think?"

Katara smiled. _The Legend of Katara_ , she thought. _The Last Waterbender of the South. A sad title, but somehow, it also sounded important._ But someday she would live to see waterbenders flourish in the Southern Water Tribe once more.

Finally, small speck of pink appeared through the trees. As Katara saw it, she wondered what it was. Pink clouds was her first thought, as that was what the pink blobs looked like. Then she realized… "We're here!"

Iroh nodded. "And I was right. We are just in time for the cherry blossoms!" He was smiling broadly. They quickened their pace and Katara's face grew into a giant grin as she saw the flowers−real flowers−blooming from the trees. Iroh hadn't been exaggerating, they were practically everywhere. And they were beautiful. Katara forgot about the past few weeks as she stared at all of the flowers. When they were closer, she looked at them, now seeing all the tiny flowers that made up the pink clouds. As they passed into the town's entrance, she saw a branch within arm's reach, so she took her hand and ran her fingers across the petals. It was different from what she had expected. She had thought they'd probably feel something like leaves, sturdy and slightly tough. The dead flowers she had seen before had felt dry and fragile. Instead, the petals were thin, light, and almost fleshy. The little strings in the middle tickled her fingers a bit. She picked one from the branch, holding it in her hand for a moment, before a slight breeze passed, blowing it right out of her hand. _I wish we could have these in the South Pole. But these would be impossible to grow there…I wonder how many other sorts of flowers there are?_

As Iroh began talking, introducing himself, and being remembered from his previous visit, Zuko noticed Katara's fascination with the flowers. He frowned at her, also raising his good eyebrow. Katara finally noticed.

"I've never seen flowers before," she told him, shrugging slightly. "Don't I get to be curious?" She turned back to them, smiling. "They're so beautiful." Zuko looked at her, the flowers, and then shrugged.

"So we've been stranded on a piece of driftwood for nearly three weeks. We would much appreciate some hospitality and relaxation," Iroh finished as they entered the town's inn.

"Of course," the town's mayor said. His eyes wandered to Katara. "Although, if I may ask about the Water Tribe girl? Why is she here?" Katara tensed. Iroh had said she'd be okay, but…

"That's my nephew's girlfriend," Iroh cheerfully announced. Katara nearly jumped in surprise. _What?!_ Her eyes had widened slightly and she quickly shut her mouth before she made Iroh's lie completely obvious. Instead she forced a smile that probably looked just a little crazy.

Zuko, apparently, was an even worse liar. "Uh, yes! She's my girlfriend!" He grabbed Katara's hand, flinging it forward towards the mayor. "This is my girlfriend, Katara." He stopped for a moment as the mayor looked between them. He didn't look suspicious, but he did look…kind of disturbed and confused. "She's my girlfriend," Zuko added.

_Oh, Tui and La._

She put on a more friendly smile, offering her hand to the mayor (and getting it out of Zuko's tight grip). "I'm Katara, from the Southern Water Tribe. I'd tell you that I'm Zuko's girlfriend, but I think you've figured that out by now."

"First love," Iroh explained jovially, apparently enjoying the situation. "Don't you wish you were their age again, happily introducing your first girlfriend?"

The mayor relaxed. He even laughed. "Yes, I remember. And, after meeting Zuko several years ago, I'm almost surprised he has a girlfriend at all. So, congratulations, both of you," he said, nodding their direction. He looked to Katara again. "Strange that you would pick someone from the Water Tribes, but I suppose if that works for you." He shrugged. He left them to the innkeeper, who was a middle aged woman, with her graying hair kept in a somewhat lazy top knot. She looked between Katara and Zuko as they asked for rooms.

"Two rooms, then?"

It took a moment for Katara and Zuko to process just what she was suggesting.

"Wha−no!" Katara shouted. Blood rushed to her face and she could only stare at the woman in horror.

Zuko wasn't any happier. "I'm not sharing my bed with her! What do you take me for?!"

The woman looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, I just assumed…"

"I'm only fourteen," Katara snapped. "I'm not even of marrying age! I'm not…" _Why, of all possible excuses, had Iroh chosen_ that _?_

"We aren't married," Zuko reiterated. "And it would be dishonorable to do that with a woman before marriage." He glared at the innkeeper, who just raised her hands in a peaceful gesture.

"Alright," she said. "A room for each of you. And I suppose you'll be taking the beds for one person only." She told them where their guesthouse was, and Zuko stomped off, fuming.

"Why did you tell them Zuko and I are…together?" Katara asked when they were out of earshot. They'd caught up with Zuko.

"Well, I needed some reason why you were with us. And since you're clearly Water Tribe, and I didn't want to even pretend that you're our prisoner, I needed a different explanation," Iroh told her.

"Couldn't you have just said 'friend'? Why did you have to say she's my girlfriend?" Zuko nearly shouted. Probably the only thing that kept him from doing so was the possibility of being overheard.

Iroh shrugged, smiling. "It was the first thing I thought of." Katara let out an indignant sound as Zuko breathed fire. Iroh changed topic. "We'll probably be here for a few days at least. Try to enjoy yourselves. Go to the spa, go get some new robes. I'm going to go get a massage. Before long, we'll be back to our usual paths." He looked to Katara momentarily. "I did say I'd have to make tea for you. Might as well do that while we're here, don't you think?"

Katara smiled before she went into her room. "I suppose it couldn't hurt." After all, here she was, staying with them in a colony. She lay down on the bed, taking a breath and letting it out. It was a soft bed, softer than she was used to. After spending almost three weeks sleeping on a raft with nothing but her parka to soften it, the bed was much appreciated. She resituated herself into her preferred sleeping position. It wasn't even dusk yet, but it had been a long, exciting, and exhausting day. _Tomorrow_ , she decided. _I'll go and get some new robes. And detangle my hair. And eat something besides fish. I'll go look at the flowers and have tea with Iroh. Maybe even talk to Zuko, if he's in the mood for talking._

It seemed that she'd be sticking around Iroh and Zuko for a little bit longer, after all.

**End Part 1**


	9. Part 2 Chapter 1: Burned and Banished

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2: The Choice in the Vision

Katara took a deep breath, dunking her head underwater in the tub. Letting it out, she raised her head out of the water again.

It still felt strange, being in a Fire Nation colony. She hadn't forgotten her last experience in one, which had resulted in Aang, Sokka, and herself having run away from a group of guards after Aang had revealed himself. It left her somewhat on edge, half expecting someone to call out Iroh's bluff, and arrest her (or worse). Thankfully, nothing of the sort had happened. Katara, Zuko, and Iroh had been in the colony for a little more than a day, and it had been nothing but peaceful. They had mostly slept through the first day, worn out from their weeks on the raft. The beds, Katara noted appreciatively, were nice and soft, and even after sleeping for half a day, she still found herself reluctant to get up. Food had been brought to them, courtesy of the mayor. There wasn't any fish, for which Katara was immensely grateful. Weeks on end of fish (frequently under or over-cooked) had left her without much appetite for it.

In the morning, Katara had woken up, and joined Iroh in going to the colony's spa. He had told her all about his previous experience there, and while Katara still found the idea of trying to enjoy herself in a Fire Nation colony (under the pretense the she was Zuko's girlfriend!) rather strange, she couldn't deny that three weeks on a raft had left her direly in need of a bath.

And that was what Katara was doing. She stayed in the tub longer than she really needed to, enjoying the pleasant contact with her element. Warm baths were not an overly familiar comfort to Katara. In the South Pole, they'd warm their water mostly so that it wasn't freezing. Along the way to the North, Katara had mostly washed herself in nearby rivers and lakes. It was more pleasant than what she would get at the South Pole. And, of course, the North Pole was the _North Pole_. It was a city made of ice, and just like her home, most heating done to the water was to make sure it wasn't too cold to even be healthy.

So the warm water provided in the colony was initially something of a shock. Katara had put her foot in, and then immediately pulled it out with a surprised yelp. One of the spa servants came in with a look of concern.

"The water is really hot," Katara told her. Furrowing her brows, the servant had come to the bath, and stuck her fingers in.

"It seems to be the normal temperature to me," she told Katara. Katara blinked.

"Really? I guess I don't really have much experience with spas. There isn't exactly an abundance of them in the South Pole."

The woman seemed amused. "Most of our guests like this temperature. Still, if it uncomfortable to you, I'll get a bucket of colder water to cool it a bit."

Slowly putting her feet in to the tub, Katara shook her head. "It's fine. I was just surprised is all."

Nodding, the servant left Katara.

 _I never knew what I was missing,_ Katara decided. After she had gotten over the initial shock of the warm water, it had quickly become a pleasurable experience. The warmth of the water seemed to seep into her skin, relaxing her muscles and mind. She washed herself slowly, enjoying the water's warmth as it slowly faded. It was tempting to lay her head back and take a nap in the tub.

Finally, she finished. Stepping out of the tub, she bent the excess water off of her body, leaving some in her hair, and bent it back into the tub. Grabbing the pink spa robe, she dressed, and exited the bathing room. Wandering around the resort, she found a small shop, where she bought a comb.

Then she went into the task of trying to comb her hair. A dunk into the ocean, and three weeks of little grooming had left it frustratingly tangled, despite her best efforts. She was able to detangle some of her hair, however much of the lower part was tangled into a bunch of tiny knots. Katara groaned, as she began to realize that it was hopeless.

"I'll trim it for you," the shop owner's daughter offered. She'd been curiously watching Katara try to comb her hair for the past twenty minutes. "Sorry, but you've got to know those last few inches aren't salvageable. But I'm fairly handy with a pair of scissors!" Pointing to her own neat hair, the girl continued, "I do my own hair. And my Dad's, too."

"I usually do my own," Katara noted as she put the comb down. "And I haven't got any money."

The girl shrugged, squinting at Katara's hair. "It's about four inches you need trimmed. I'm not going to ask you for gold to cut off a few tangles."

It took about fifteen minutes, with the girl doing her best to straighten Katara's hair, cut off the tangles, and then making sure that Katara's hair was evenly cut. Receiving a thumbs up, Katara accepted a mirror offered, and tried to see how it looked.

"I tried to maintain what it probably looked like before," the girl told her. "So it should be the same, just a bit shorter. Don't worry, I didn't do anything zany. I only do that to my cousin."

Satisfied, Katara thanked the girl, and left the shop, making her way back to the spa, where Iroh and Zuko still were.

It was a strange, Katara thought. Strange how friendly these people could be. Aside from the initial glances she received, nobody seemed to particularly care about the fact that she was Water Tribe. The fact that Iroh had brought her seemed enough to quell any trouble in this colony. The people were civil, some even friendly, despite the fact that she was from an enemy nation.

Then again, she noted, a large part of that was that they believed her to be Zuko's girlfriend. To these people, she wasn't an enemy.

Once again, she was reminded of the humanity of the Fire Nation.

She hoped the defeat of the Firelord would allow the people of the Fire Nation some peace with the rest of the world.

Sighing, she approached Zuko and Iroh. Zuko, dressed in a pink resort robe, was sitting down, glaring at the floor. He wore a wide hat, casting a shadow over his face. Iroh was sitting down beside Zuko, trying to talk to him. Zuko was quietly taking back to Iroh. Iroh, responded, and optimistic smile on his face, but Zuko frowned, standing up and beginning to walk away from his uncle. Seeing his expression, Katara immediately knew he was in a bad mood. As he walked up to her, he stopped, glaring at her for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. Practically growling, Zuko clenched his fist, angrily walking past her.

"What do you care? _You don't know anything._ "

The angry words caught Katara off guard. Perhaps they shouldn't have. After all, they had been enemies for the longest time. They used to argue all the time, not two weeks previously.

But then, they had been civil for some days now. Even…almost friendly.

Now Zuko was acting like it hadn't happened.

_Well, fine then! He wants to be a jerk? Fine, but he'd better not think I'll just take it!_

"Katara!" Iroh's exclamation, and eager waving interrupted Katara's thoughts of arguing with Zuko.

Iroh seemed cheerful as ever, despite his nephew having sulked off. Katara walked over, sitting down near him.

"What's his problem?" she asked.

Iroh's smile fell. "This…isn't a very good day for him. I hope you can excuse his behavior today…"

She furrowed her brows. "What does that _mean_? What's wrong with today that's got him in such a foul mood?"

Iroh looked at Katara for a few long moments, and Katara found herself feeling rather uncomfortable. It was as though the old man was searching within her. After a few tense seconds, Iroh's voice suddenly took on a more cheerful tone again. "I did say I should make you a cup of tea while we're here! This is a good afternoon for a cup of tea, don't you think?"

Katara blinked, shocked at Iroh's total change of subject. Had he ever done that before? But before she could ask again, she saw his expression, and she nodded. "Sure. Let's go have some tea."

* * *

It was hard without Katara.

And it would get harder, Sokka knew. The fact was that Katara had often been the voice of maturity within the group. As much as he wanted to prove himself as a man, Sokka acknowledged that he often tended to fall in with Aang's immaturity. He preferred jokes to discussion, he liked to kid around. He let Katara do the cooking, cleaning, and sewing.

And the pep talks.

It hadn't gone past Sokka's attention that Aang had been having nightmares. He noticed how Aang seemed to be up earlier, how he seemed reluctant to go to sleep, how he had dark circles forming around his eyes. Katara would have known how to address it. As for Sokka, he was at a loss. All the comfort and feelings stuff had never been his thing. Frankly, he was still amazed that he'd managed to pull Aang out of the Avatar State after he learned about Katara's death.

They left the Northern Water Tribe's ship to make their way to an Earth Kingdom army base. It was just him and Aang. Sokka still didn't really feel ready.

Master Pakku had given Aang a set of waterbending scrolls, instructing him to practice as much as he could. After Aang hopped onto Appa, Pakku turned to Sokka, telling him to make sure Aang practiced.

"You think he won't?"

Pakku's stare was blank. "He frequently became sidetracked during my lessons. Once, he made a snowman out of himself."

"Good point." With everything weighing on Aang's shoulders, it was too easy to forget that Aang was only twelve. Sokka would have to make sure that Aang stayed on track. He began to turn around, but Pakku's hand caught him.

"From here, we'll make our way south. I'll tell Kana about Katara. I'll let her know that you, however, are well."

Sokka sucked in a breath, and then let it out. "Tell her…tell her I'm sorry about Katara."

The grip on his shoulder tightened for a moment, and Sokka met Pakku's eyes. "I'll tell her you did everything you could. Everything the spirits could ask for, and more."

Sokka gave a sad smile. "Thanks."

"Take care," the old waterbending master said as Sokka climbed onto Appa.

And they were off…

Which brought them to _this_ whole new situation.

It had all started out well enough, with General Fong's somewhat theatrical introductions of them, and the fireworks, and everything. It was nice to be appreciated, and a welcome change from the past several weeks.

But then it all took a very different turn.

"Avatar, you're ready to face the Firelord now."

"What?! _No, I'm not!_ " Sokka looked at Aang, whose eyes were wide, with his eyebrows lifting off his face.

Backing Aang up, Sokka looked back to General Fong. "Are you crazy? He has to learn all the elements right? He only knows one and half," he told the general.

But the general shook his head. "He doesn't need to master all of the elements. With the kind of power he possesses, the power to destroy hundreds of battleships in a matter of minutes, he could defeat the Firelord NOW!"

"But sir," Sokka objected. "The thing is, Aang can only do those things when he's in the Avatar State."

"See, it's this special state where—" Aang began to explain.

"I'm well aware," the General interrupted. Sokka found himself frowning a bit. It seemed this general couldn't be talked out of his idea−but was it really a _good_ idea? "Your eyes and tattoos glow, and you're able to summon unbelievable power." General Fong walked over to the map of the world. "Without you, we'd be slaughtered. But with you leading the way, as the ultimate weapon, we'd cut a swath right to the heart of the Fire Nation."

"Right," Aang apprehensively acknowledged. "Maybe, but I don't know how to get in or out of the Avatar State. Much less to do once I'm there…"

"So it's decided then!" General Fong declared, and Sokka officially felt a headache coming on. _We didn't 'decide' anything._ "I'll help you figure out how to get into the Avatar State, and then you'll face your destiny."

"We didn't _decide_ anything!" Sokka vocalized as he and Aang stood up. "Like Aang said, he doesn't even know how to get into the Avatar State, much less control it!" Sokka scowled as he thought of the times Aang had gone glowy. "Why should we follow this plan of yours when we've already got a plan?"

Aang remained silent as General Fong responded.

"Well, while you're busy learning all of the elements, the war goes on." General Fong showed Aang the infirmary, full of wounded soldiers. He launched into an impassioned speech about how people were dying and how Aang could end it now if he used the Avatar State. It wasn't a half-bad speech, Sokka noted. It certainly seemed to have an effect on Aang.

"What do you think?" Aang asked him later. "Do you think I should go with General Fong's plan?"

Sokka's eyes widened. "I…" It was a difficult question. He could see the positives of using the Avatar State. He knew how powerful it was. Aang had taken out an entire fleet of battleships. With the Avatar State, perhaps they really could defeat the Firelord now…bring peace to the world, save countless lives. Aang wouldn't have to stress over learning all the elements in a matter of months, could live his life like past Avatars, learning them over years. Still, Sokka couldn't be blind to the dangers of General Fong's plan. Aang couldn't control the Avatar State. While it had been useful, it had also been dangerous to his friends and allies at times. Sokka remembered the time he nearly blew Katara and himself off the Air Temple. He remembered when Aang had unleashed chaos onto the healing huts, breaking Sokka's wrist.

And then there was the matter of Katara. She was gone, but knowing her like he did, Sokka doubted she'd approve of this plan. And Sokka did want to think of what Katara would do, because they had always needed her voice in their decision making.

"I don't know," Sokka finally told Aang. "I guess you should just do what you think is right."

Later that night, Aang returned to their room, and told him that he agreed to go along with General Fong's plan.

And Sokka was suddenly certain that Katara wouldn't approve of this.

But she wasn't there.

* * *

Iroh poured Katara a cup of tea before pouring his own. The door was closed, and Katara knew this conversation wasn't supposed to leave the room. Seeing Iroh take a sip of tea, Katara drank a little from her cup. Her eyebrows went up.

"Wow. That is good."

Iroh beamed. "Thank you! You know, I've sometimes had the dream of opening a tea shop. It's a very pleasant dream."

Katara smiled. It was easy to picture. "So…were you going to tell me about today?"

Iroh's smile fell, and the man looked uncharacteristically grim. "Please, understand something Katara. This is not something that Zuko likes to talk about. And, in truth, perhaps I shouldn't be telling you this." Iroh sighed. "You have seen the good in Zuko. You know how he saved you, and also tried to save Zhao."

Katara nodded. "We were almost…getting along for a while. Until today."

"Today is a bad day for Zuko. He can't think of anything but what he's lost. And how to get it back." Iroh sighed, shaking his head. He took a sip of his tea, before stunning Katara with his next words. "Three years ago today was the day that Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation."

Katara sat her cup down with a small clunk. " _What?_ Banished? But…does that mean? His own father banished him?" Iroh nodded. Katara stared into the tea cup for a minute, trying to imagine her own father banishing her, banishing Sokka. She tried, and she just couldn't see it. He wouldn't do that. _No decent parent would. And Zuko was only thirteen_ , Katara realized. "What…what did he do to be banished?"

"The right thing," Iroh told her grimly. "Zuko was determined to prove himself. To himself, to the country…to his father. There was a war meeting, and Zuko wanted to attend. He wasn't supposed to be there, but he practically begged me to let him come in. I caved," Iroh said, and for a moment his frown became especially pronounced. "For most of the meeting, Zuko remained silent, as I instructed him to be. But then there was this general, who put forth a strategy…it involved sacrificing hundreds of new recruits. Using them as bait," Iroh said the word rather shortly, his face scrunching for a moment as though he'd eaten something bitter. "For the Earth Kingdom's elite forces. Then, after the new recruits were all slaughtered, a more experienced battalion would take the stronghold. Zuko was horrified by this betrayal of our men, and he shouted at the general." Iroh closed his eyes as he remembered.

Katara shook her head. "He got in trouble for that? But he was right!" She would have done the same thing.

Iroh nodded. "I agree. Unfortunately, given that he wasn't even supposed to be there, his interruption was considered disrespectful."

"They didn't even consider what he had to say?" The Fire Nation had always been the enemy, and yet Katara found herself picturing a bunch of their soldiers unwittingly charging to their doom…as orchestrated by their leaders, who didn't seem to value the lives of their own people. As Iroh shook his head, Katara looked down into her tea.

"So…that's why he was banished? Because he spoke out of turn? That's stupid!" Katara clutched the tea cup tightly. "That wouldn't happen in the Water Tribe. Everyone gets their voice." Frustrated, but unsure what to say, Katara took a sip of tea.

Iroh smiled lightly. "Perhaps someday the Fire Nation will learn from your tribe." His smile fell again. "I'm afraid that that wasn't the end, though. You see, the Firelord, Zuko's father, demanded that he fight an Agni Kai."

"Agni Kai?"

"A fire duel. Zuko believed that he was supposed to fight the general whose plan he had opposed, and accepted the challenge."

" _Believed_ he had to fight the general?" Katara questioned. "So it wasn't the general? Then who?"

Iroh sighed, putting down his tea cup. "The Firelord himself."

Katara could only stare at him for a moment. "The…Firelord. His own father?" Katara frowned as she processed it. "That's insane! Fight his own father? Who in their right minds expects a thirteen year old to fight their own father?"

"When Zuko saw his father, he refused to fight. He got to his hands and knees, and began apologizing….begging forgiveness of his father. He wouldn't so much as raise his fists as Ozai demanded that he fight." It was a horrifying story, but Katara found herself transfixed by it. She could almost see it…Zuko, proud Zuko, all of thirteen years old, on his hand and knees begging forgiveness from a father who clearly didn't love him as a father should.

"So…Zuko was banished for not fighting his father?"

"Ozai called it weakness. He told Zuko that he had lost his honor by refusing to fight, and for that he was banished." Iroh sighed, looking haunted. "He made sure that Zuko would remember that Agni Kai forever. He left a scar that Zuko cannot hide, from others or himself." For a moment Katara failed to comprehend what Iroh was saying. When she did, her voice was quiet.

"His father gave him that scar?" It was nightmarish to think about. _Fathers…don't do that._ So many times, Katara had seen that scar, but she'd never really put much thought into how it had happened. To think his own father had done that to him… This was the man that Aang would fight by the end of summer. And he was evil, there was no doubt to be had about it. Katara recalled how she had once wondered how the Firelord could possibly be a good father when he was so cruel to the rest of the world. Now she understood: he couldn't. He was every bit as cruel to his own son.

Katara hoped Aang mopped the floor with Firelord Ozai.

"Firelord Ozai told Zuko that his banishment would be ended if, and only if," Iroh continued. "He captured the Avatar and brought him back to the Fire Nation."

Katara blinked. That certainly explained why Zuko was so obsessed with capturing Aang. But still… "The Avatar hadn't been seen for over ninety years. His father didn't seriously think that Zuko would suddenly find the Avatar, did he?" Iroh was silent, and Katara understood. "Of course he didn't…he was just sending Zuko off on a wild rabbit-goose chase…" It was sick. "Well, I guess now I know why he chased us around the world," she mumbled. "And why he's in such a mood today." Abruptly, Katara stood up. "I'm going for a walk. Thanks for the tea."

She needed to think.

* * *

Katara's walk was slow and leisurely. The cherry blossoms were like clouds of pink around her, and the light wind resulted in petals floating in the air, like pink snowflakes. It was peaceful, unlike the turmoil in her mind.

Time and again, she had been forced to reconsider her opinion on the Fire Nation prince. From dangerous enemy, to hotheaded rescuer, to melancholy ally, to honorable prince, and now, victim of his own father's cruelty. And, once again, Zuko had done the right thing.

Katara sighed as she sat down under one tree. She placed her fingers on her temples, lightly frowning.

She wasn't supposed to get attached to Zuko and Iroh. She'd sworn that weeks ago. And she was so sure it would be easy not to. They were Fire Nation, Zuko was a hothead, she didn't think she'd actually come to care for them by the time they were off of that raft.

But she had.

And, in truth, Katara wasn't entirely sure where to go from here. The plan was to ditch them once they got back to land, and go to Omashu where she could meet up with Aang and Sokka, who certainly thought she was dead by now. And that was still the plan.

But what about Zuko and Iroh? Now that Katara knew why Zuko was after Aang in the first place, she understood that he'd never give up the chase. He wanted to return home, wanted to earn his father's approval, and he believed that that capturing Aang was the only way to do that. He would never give up.

Inevitably, Katara, Sokka, and Aang would clash with Zuko again. And, of course, Iroh would be with him. And Katara had to admit, she wasn't entirely sure how she'd react to that. She was as dedicated to defeating the Firelord as ever, but now she knew Iroh and Zuko. Iroh, the tea-loving, wise old man, who could find happiness even in the direst of circumstances. Iroh the mediator. Iroh who was clearly a better man than his brother. And then there was Zuko. Zuko who rescued an enemy, Zuko who tried to save a man who tried to kill him, Zuko who spoke against the sacrifice of his people, _Zuko who was burned and banished by the Firelord._

The truth was, it was very difficult now to imagine herself fighting them.

But Zuko's quest would bring them into conflict.

Standing up, Katara resisted the urge to punch the tree.

_Why can't that idiot understand that he didn't lose his honor? It's his father that has no honor!_

It wasn't fair, really. In another life, Zuko wouldn't be cursed to chase Aang around the world in pursuit of a father he didn't need. In another life, Katara was certain Iroh and Aang would be fast friends. What with Aang's friendly and peaceful disposition, and Iroh's easy-going outreach across nations, Katara was certain that the two would easily become friends. Aang had said he'd had friends in the Fire Nation before he was frozen, Katara recalled. She doubted the fact that the Fire Nation was an enemy now would stop him from befriending its people.

Katara sighed as she began walking back to the cabin. It was almost night now, and Katara was feeling tired, stressed from the past three weeks, and the day's revelations. In the morning, Katara decided, she would leave them, and begin making her way to Omashu. Undoubtedly, Zuko would follow her, and before long they'd be back to fighting, as though none of this had ever happened.

Katara was lost in her thoughts until she nearly walked past someone.

"Stop," came the cold order. Katara came back to the world, looking at a young woman from the Fire Nation. The girl looked to be around the same age as herself. Her pitch black hair was tied neatly up into a top knot, two even strands of hair hanging down by her face. She was sort of pretty, but there was something about how cold her amber eyes were that Katara found rather unsettling.

"Is something wrong?" Katara asked. She didn't like how this girl was looking at her. She was sizing her up, analyzing. Katara's heartbeat quickened slightly.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just curious about what a Water Tribe peasant is doing in a Fire Nation colony." Her eyes narrowed. She wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Well it's not really your business is it? But since you must know, I'm here with my boyfriend." The lie came easier than Katara thought.

"Your boyfriend?" She didn't believe Katara.

"Prince Zuko. You may have heard of him?" For the first time in their conversation, the other girl seemed to be caught off guard. Her eyes widened slightly, and she almost dropped her jaw. She quickly regained her composure.

"That's certainly interesting. You simply _must_ tell me how that came to be. A banished Fire Nation prince and a Water Tribe peasant?" She was hoping to find a hole in Katara's story.

"I left the South Pole," Katara told her, mixing truth and lie. "It's a small village, surrounded by nothing but ice and snow. It gets boring after a while, so I left to explore the world. Along the way, I crossed paths with a group of pirates. They tried to capture me, but Zuko saved me. I'm sure you can figure out the rest." The girl continued looking her over for a moment, undoubtedly looking for some clue that she was lying. Katara stood her ground. Finally, the girl raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"Here I thought Zuzu would never get a girl. Then again, he always had a thing for inferior beings," the girl said, and Katara found her own jaw dropping. Was it her imagination, or did the girl look pleased with her reaction? "Well, I hate to break you two lovebirds up, but Zuko's going to be leaving you, and you're never going to see him again. Oh well." The girl walked off, leaving Katara standing there, blushing furiously. It was tempting to go after her, to start a fight. But there was something about her that put Katara on edge, and what did she mean about…?

Katara quickly made it to the cabin, where Iroh stood, looking exasperated. Zuko could be heard in his room, rummaging through the few possessions he'd gotten from the town.

"What's going on?" Katara asked. "There was this girl outside…"

"Azula," Iroh answered her. "Zuko's sister."

Katara blinked. "He has a sister?"

Iroh sighed, pinching his nose. "She came here to say that their father has lifted Zuko's banishment. _Apparently_ , Zuko can return home without the Avatar."

Katara's eyes widened. She had only just been thinking about how much she didn't want to come to conflict with Zuko and Iroh again. If this was true, then Zuko wouldn't be after Aang anymore. She wouldn't have to fight him. Except, perhaps, by the end of summer, when Aang fought the Firelord.

But that girl, Azula…

"You don't believe her?"

Shaking his head, Iroh answered. "Azula…is not like Zuko. She takes after her father. The last time I saw her," Iroh told her quietly, "was just after the Agni Kai. She was _smiling_. She's never been a reliable source of information, and I don't believe that my brother has ever regretted anything in his life. So no, I do not believe what she said is true." He turned to look out the window.

"So…why did she come here?" Katara asked, looking out the window with him. "If Zuko can't go home, why did she go through the effort of tracking him down to say so? I doubt she'd put so much effort into a prank."

Iroh turned to look at Katara. "I fear that word of our actions may have reached the Firelord," he told her quietly. "If he has heard about my actions at the North Pole, and certain actions of Zuko's, then I fear we may have been declared traitors." Katara thought of how Zuko had once rescued Aang from Zhao. _If his father learned of this_ , Katara realized, _he would have an excuse to go after Iroh and Zuko._

"It's a trap." Iroh nodded. "What are you going to do? You can't let her take you prisoner."

"I'm going to try to talk Zuko out of going," Iroh told her. "I've done my best to protect him for years. I'm not going to lose him now." Katara's shoulders relaxed. She hadn't even realized she'd been so tense. "Go to your room," Iroh told her. "This isn't your fight."

She went to her room, listening as Zuko began trying to pack their possessions. She heard Iroh's voice of reason, trying to convince Zuko that this was trouble.

Finally, she heard Zuko raise his voice.

She knocked her head lightly against the wall.

He was going to walk right into his sister's trap.

* * *

General Fong's attempts to bring on the Avatar State were basically a huge waste of time. They varied from ill-advised to downright gross. They had no success, and Aang found himself increasingly reconsidering the whole idea. Katara, he thought, wouldn't approve of this. That night, he had yet another nightmare about the Avatar State. Upon awakening, he woke up Sokka.

"I don't think we should be trying to bring on the Avatar State," he confessed.

Half asleep still, Sokka propped himself onto his elbows, looking at Aang. "You sure?" Aang nodded. "Okay." He blinked as he looked at Aang. "Is that what you've been having nightmares about?"

Aang blinked. "You noticed?" He hadn't wanted to worry Sokka.

"Yeah. You've been like half asleep for the past few days at least. Is it about the Avatar State, then?"

Aang slowly nodded. "I've been dreaming about the times I've gone into it. There's just so much destruction…and I can't control it. I can hurt people I care about without meaning to." Aang paid a small glance to Sokka's wrist.

"A broken wrist is nothing I can't heal from," Sokka pointed out. "Look, you'll get there, Aang. For now, we'll just tell General Fong no. He can't force you to participate in his plan."

Aang let out a relieved breath and nodded. "Right. Do you think he'll be mad?"

Sokka shrugged lightly. "What can he say? You're the Avatar. Who knows better than you?"

They went back to sleep.

That morning Aang and Sokka went to General Fong to tell him that Aang had changed his mind, that he didn't want to use the Avatar State, and they were ready to leave.

It was all going well, General Fong took it calmly, and Aang seemed very relieved.

Until, of course, General Fong attacked Aang and earthbended him through the walls.

Then Sokka realized that his initial assessment of the general was correct−he was completely out of his mind.

* * *

"I'm going with Zuko," Iroh told Katara, dressed and carrying a bag.

She shook her head, disbelief coloring her tone as she spoke. "You can't! You know it's a trap."

Iroh nodded grimly. "Knowing Azula, she brought some of the Fire Nation's best Imperial Firebenders with her. She hopes to apprehend both of us…she'd be certain that we wouldn't be able to escape."

"And you're just going to go in there, and let her capture you?" Katara couldn't keep the incredulity out of her voice.

"She's hoping to catch us off guard," Iroh explained. "She came in with her story of how Ozai wants Zuko back. Zuko wants to believe that far too much. And he often trusts Azula when he should not."

"Is there ever a good time to trust her?"

"Not really," Iroh told her.

"So…what do I do?" Katara had intended to leave for Omashu—but now, with Iroh and Zuko walking into danger, it hardly seemed right to leave without doing anything.

"Go. Find your friends, and leave us to deal with this."

Katara shook her head. "I can't! I can't just turn my back when people are in trouble." She paused for a moment. "I'll just hang around town. Upstream. I'll be there if you need me."

* * *

By the time Aang came out of the Avatar State, General Fong's base was a mess. The ground was cracked, with piles of stone dislodged, forming a bumpy floor that could easily trip anybody who wasn't paying attention. The walls had, thankfully, survived, but they had been pierced by many smaller stones, leaving small cracks that would grow if they weren't fixed. Perhaps the most problematic of the damage were the buildings in the base, many of which had had their roofs and walls damaged by the flying stones. At least one was partially collapsed. Some of the damage had been caused by General Fong's last insane attempt to make Aang go into the Avatar State. Most of the damage was caused by Fong's success.

Aang, upon coming out of the Avatar State, had just sat down, not moving for a few moments, until General Fong came over, clearly more satisfied than the situation merited.

"You're out of your mind," Aang told him, offering a rare glare. The crazy general ignored Aang, continuing to talk about his plan.

Sokka had had enough.

A few moments later, with Fong on the ground, Sokka looked over to Fong's men. "Anybody got a problem with that?" The men quickly shook their heads.

They offered an escort to Omashu, but Aang and Sokka declined, opting to take to the sky with Appa.

Once they were in the air, Sokka turned to Aang while holding Appa's reins.

"So…some morning, huh?" Aang didn't respond, and Sokka looked him over. Sighing, he shook his head. "For the record, I always got the impression Fong was sort of nuts. But if I knew he was going to attack us, I'd have gotten us out of there before he could try anything…Aang, are you alright? You're being really quiet."

Aang stared blankly for a moment. "I never want to go into the Avatar State again," he told Sokka. Sokka's eyes widened, looking over to the young airbender.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think? I mean, you're the Avatar. Isn't the Avatar State kinda part of that?"

"But I don't want it!" Aang protested, standing up in Appa's saddle. "I only go into when I'm upset or in danger−neither of which are pleasant. And I cause so much destruction while I'm in it."

"So you'll learn to control it someday," Sokka told him. He shrugged. "I mean, all the other Avatars did, right? So will you."

"How?" Aang asked. "How am I supposed to control it? There's nobody to teach me!" At this, Aang sat back down, putting his head in his hands. "Maybe I'll never figure it out. I sure can't right now…"

"I hate to break to you, Aang, but you're only twelve. I doubt most Avatars have even started their second element by that age, much less the spirit-world-Avatar mumbo jumbo. You'll get there, eventually. And, hey, you came out of the Avatar State on your own this time. That's a start, right?"

Aang frowned. "Not really. I had help," Aang told Sokka. "While I was in the Avatar State, Avatar Roku visited me."

Sokka raised his eyebrows. "But he didn't actually teach you to control it?" At the shake of Aang's head, Sokka frowned. "Of course not. Because why make things easy? Anyways, what did he have to say?"

"He said that if I'm killed in the Avatar state, the Avatar cycle will end completely." Aang's voice was grave.

"So…no more Avatars?" Sokka had to check−it just didn't sound possible.

"No more Avatars," Aang confirmed. He looked down to his hands. "Another reason not to use it. The world needs the Avatar, and if I'm killed during the Avatar State−"

"That's not going to happen," Sokka interrupted fiercely. "Okay, number one, you're basically invincible in the Avatar State. It's practically impossible to get near you while you're in the Avatar State, much less kill you. Do you know about any benders capable of killing you while you're in the Avatar State? I don't!"

"But Sokka," Aang tried to interrupt. Sokka ignored him.

"And number two," Sokka said, a glint in his eye. "Nobody is going to get close enough to you to kill you. I won't let them. I don't care if you're in the Avatar State or not. I'm going to protect you, and I'm going to stay by you."

For a moment, it was silent between the two, the wind being the only sound. They knew they were both thinking the same thing.

Their little family couldn't afford to lose another.

* * *

Katara waited, and waited all morning, and there was no sign of either Zuko or Iroh.

She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

On one hand, it could mean that Iroh was wrong, that Azula was being honest. In that case, Zuko and Iroh were on their way home to the Fire Nation for the first time in three years.

On the other hand, it could mean that Iroh was right, and he and Zuko had been captured, and were now on their way to the Fire Nation as prisoners.

 _The Fire Nation royal family_ , Katara decided, _is beyond crazy._

Finally, Katara got up, ready to leave for Omashu. If she hadn't heard from them by now, then whatever had happened…

Katara heard footsteps, and swiftly turned around. Iroh and Zuko were quickly running up, and Katara met them halfway.

"What happened?" Of course, she supposed she knew what had happened.

"It was a trap," Iroh confirmed. Turning to Zuko, he said, "I believe we're safe here." They were kneeling by the stream. Zuko momentarily glanced to Katara. She could see his shock, perhaps at the fact that she was still here, or perhaps at what had just happened with his sister.

Turning to the stream, Zuko took out a dagger. He took it to the base of his top knot and cut it off. Handing it to Iroh, his uncle did the same. The two Fire Nation Royals dropped their top knots into the stream.

"We are officially on the run," Iroh told her as he stood. "From our own nation." He put his hand on Zuko's shoulder, urging him to stand. "We cannot stay here. We must get moving."

"I have a map," Katara offered. "If you're willing to stay with me any longer, I suppose." She looked at Zuko. He stared blankly. It was like that night on the raft all over again. Only this time, he didn't have much hope left at all. Declared a traitor…

"We should get away from the colonies," he said blankly. "They'll be after us."

She nodded.

As she walked with them, Katara looked to the stream.

It increasingly felt like destiny had brought her to the Fire Nation royals.

And, it seemed that she would be with them for longer still.


	10. Part 2 Chapter 2: Wilderness and The Wall

It felt a little bit like being back on the raft.

After Iroh and Zuko had reached Katara, the three of them escaped into the woods, heading away from the colony. They were technically in Earth Kingdom territory, but that certainly didn't mean they were safe from the Fire Nation yet. At one point, they came across a house with a few lines of clothes drying. It hadn't felt right to steal, but as Zuko had pointed out, their current clothing would only make them stand out to both the Fire Nation, and the Earth Kingdom. Zuko and Iroh both took plain green clothing, basic pants and a tunic. Katara swiped much the same, except that she also grabbed a longer tunic, which went down to just above her ankles. It was similar to what she was used to, except green. Iroh clearly did not approve of the theft, even though it was to better hide. The two Fire Nation royals had fixed their hair, Iroh evening out the hair which had been chopped off. Zuko had to cut it more drastically, using the dagger to carefully shave off the hair he'd grown in the middle of his head. Now completely bald, within a few days small shoots of hair began growing all over his head.

It was sort of strange to see Zuko without any hair at all.

Zuko kept the knife hidden, for the most part. But Katara had paid it a few short glances. It was sleek, and the handle was well-formed, but it looked mostly decorative. Katara noticed that there were words engraved on the blade itself, but she never got close enough, or looked long enough, to tell what they were. She didn't dare ask Zuko. Although he hadn't sought out a fight with her, it was still obvious that he didn't want to talk to her. Much like the first few days on the raft, Zuko spent much of the time sulking. On the occasions that he spoke, it was mostly just to his uncle. He was silent towards Katara, but he would sometimes cast a glance to her. His expression as he did so varied. Sometimes he would look rather curious. Other times, his look would be one of frustration. Only once or twice did he seem to be glaring at her. And she couldn't understand those occasions. She didn't think she'd given him any reason to be mad at her. She thought back, but she was sure of it. But then, she supposed that he could be upset that he was still stuck with her. _After all_ , she reflected, _it's not as though he wanted me here to begin with. He's probably just impatient for me to leave._

Which she was still going to. Her concern for Iroh and Zuko had resulted in her staying with them a little while longer, just to make sure they were safe from capture. Still, she missed Sokka and Aang more with every passing day. She would look up into the sky, staring at clouds, and wishing that one of those white puffs would be Appa. She'd dream about them.

She hoped they were okay.

She would just make sure that Zuko and Iroh were safe, and then she'd leave them for Omashu.

"Where are you going to go?" she asked Iroh one morning.

The old man raised an eyebrow, and put his fingers into his beard, rubbing it thoughtfully. "We cannot go to Fire Nation, or the colonies. That much is clear. Sadly, if we are to hide in the Earth Kingdom, we must also hide who we are."

"Do you think you can?" Katara asked. "I mean, I honestly can't picture Zuko living in the Earth Kingdom like any random person. It's just not in his character to give up and hide. Not to mention, you guys wouldn't be able to firebend freely."

Iroh considered her words. "It certainly won't be easy," he admitted. "And knowing Zuko, his frustration with our new situation will only make things harder. But I believe that I can keep him grounded, on the right path."

Katara smiled. "So…does this mean the two of you won't be hunting Aang anymore?" she asked quietly. She certainly hoped so.

"I do not believe it would be wise," he confirmed. Katara breathed a sigh of relief.

This changed everything. When she returned to Aang and Sokka, they would no longer need to worry about being chased by the Fire Nation prince and his uncle. And Katara wouldn't have to worry about fighting the prince she'd grown to respect as a good person. Not even when they would go to fight Firelord Ozai−Zuko and Iroh would be out of the way, safe in the Earth Kingdom.

Perhaps they would even denounce their relative, as he had them.

Katara could dream, couldn't she?

"Will you two be safe in an Earth Kingdom village, then?"

"Probably not," Iroh told her, and her heart plummeted. "Azula is undoubtedly in pursuit, even now. A mere village will not be able to withstand her." Katara furrowed her eyebrows.

"So what are you going to do?"

"There is one place that can withstand the Fire Nation. Ba Sing Se. The capital of the Earth Kingdom. Its walls are grand, and nearly impenetrable. Only once, have the walls been pierced. And even then, it was only the outer wall."

"I heard about that," Katara realized. "While we were passing through the Earth Kingdom. This was…what, six years ago?" Iroh nodded, confirming what she'd heard. "I also heard that the Fire Nation was close to breaking the second wall." She frowned. "You don't think the Fire Nation could do so again, do you?"

Iroh raised an eyebrow. "That would require no small amount of planning," he told her. "In the immediate future, at least, I believe Ba Sing Se to be safe."

"So…the old general won't try again?"

"No, I will not be trying again."

It took a moment for Katara to process what Iroh had just said. "It was you?! You were the general that nearly conquered Ba Sing Se?" It didn't seem possible. Iroh was just so friendly, and wise. It didn't possible that he had one besieged the Earth Kingdom's capitol so viciously. _Then again_ , she reminded herself, _he is the Firelord's brother. I suppose he can't be entirely spotless._

Noticing Katara's shock, Iroh elaborated. "I was a rather different person back then. I believed that it was my destiny to conquer Ba Sing Se. I intended to fulfill it." Iroh frowned, looking away from Katara. "I besieged Ba Sing Se for six hundred days, my son at my side…"

"Your son?" Katara blinked. "I didn't know you had children."

"Only one," Iroh told her sadly. "I thought that we would win, together, and take the Earth Kingdom capital. With the Earth Kingdom defeated, the rest of the world would follow." A chill went down Katara's spine. It was hard to imagine Iroh, who had spoken of the elements working together, who had mediated between her and Zuko, speaking of how closely he had come to allowing the Fire Nation to totally conquer the world. "After six hundred days, we were closer than anyone else had ever been…and then my son was killed." Katara gasped.

"I'm so sorry," she told him, reaching out and grasping his hand. He offered a small, sad smile, eyes slightly wet. Once again, Katara was reminded of how the war had been harming everyone. She wouldn't wish the loss of a child on anyone.

"Thank you, Katara." He sighed, shaking his head. "After the loss of my son, I…understood things differently," he told her carefully, slowly. "I immediately withdrew all of our troops, and returned to the Fire Nation."

"You could have won," Katara realized. "You still had the numbers, and the strategy. But you chose not to."

Iroh nodded. Katara had never realized just how close they were to losing the war. To think−if Iroh hadn't lost his son, or hadn't been so affected by his loss, he could have taken Ba Sing Se. _The war would have ended by five years ago_ , she realized. _And the Fire Nation's domination would be complete._

"I returned to the Fire Nation," Iroh continued. His eyes were now squinted, his eyebrows drawn down. "My son was dead, and I returned home to find that my father had also died."

Katara's jaw dropped. "Your son, and then your father, too? That's awful."

"And Ozai had taken the throne," Iroh added.

"Even though he's the younger brother," Katara said slowly. "I remember, you told me that before." She stopped for a moment. "That…doesn't sound right." She frowned. "So your son dies, your father dies, and then suddenly your younger brother is Firelord?" She raised an eyebrow. "I've got to say, that's _some_ family you've got." Iroh didn't seem to mind the near-insult to his family.

"That isn't even all of it," Iroh told her. She raised an eyebrow.

"Do I want to know?"

He smiled. "That story, I believe, can wait for another time."

He got up, walking around the forest, searching through the bushes. "Zuko hasn't returned yet."

Katara frowned. "You don't think someone's captured him, do you?"

Iroh cast a smile at her. "I trust my nephew's ability to defend himself. No, I don't think he's in trouble. Although, I fear he may not have had any luck in finding us any food."

Katara nodded absentmindedly, following Iroh. She looked down to her feet for a moment. "Do you…have you ever wondered if Ozai stole the throne? I mean, it just sounds kind of weird, with everything that happened. Is it possible that you were supposed to be Firelord, still?"

Iroh paid her a glance, waiting for a few moments to respond to her. "I…prefer not to think about it, to be honest," he told her. "When I came back to the Fire Nation, I had no will to challenge Ozai for the throne. I was too broken by the loss of my son, and my father right after that. It shook my faith in everything I believed in. And I left the Fire Nation, on a spiritual journey. I found a new purpose in life. A new understanding of the world. And when I returned to the Fire Nation, I knew it was never my destiny to become Firelord."

Katara blinked. "Oh…" She didn't completely understand what he meant, and it would be weeks before she would begin to understand what Iroh was truly telling her. Still, she understood clearly that Iroh had no desire to be Firelord. _Who will be Firelord after Ozai is defeated?_ She wondered. _Zuko is nowhere close to ready to lead a country to peace, and Azula seems to be exactly the same as her father._

She was pulled from her thoughts by a loud gasp from Iroh. She turned to see him walking over to a large flower in a clearing. "What?"

Iroh walked closer to the bushy plant, eyeing it critically. He knelt down, looking all over it. "This appears to be a White Dragon Bush," he said, a smile forming, a twinkle in his eye.

"Okay…so?" It was a nice flower, Katara noted.

"It makes for an absolutely wonderful tea," he informed her. She raised her eyebrows.

"That's great, but don't you think we should be looking for actual food?"

He looked over to her, waving her off. "I believe there's a stream somewhere in that direction. Perhaps you could go help Zuko catch some fish?"

Katara nodded. "Of course." She began walking away, then hesitated for a moment, looking back. "You know, I don't know anything about tea plants," she admitted. "But I really think we should be careful with plants we find in the wilderness. I wouldn't recommend making tea out of strange plants."

Iroh nodded, not looking away from the plant. "Don't worry, Katara. I know what I'm doing." She slowly turned and walked away. _I'm sure Iroh knows what he's doing−surely, he's more experienced than Zuko?_

With Katara gone, Iroh took to sniffing the plant.

* * *

Katara walked to the stream leisurely, but remained vigilant of any sign of trouble. Reaching the stream, she heard Zuko before she saw him. She could hear frustrated groans and harsh splashes in the stream. She saw Zuko standing beside the stream, arms crossed, eyes glaring at the rushing water. In one of his hands was a long stick that was almost a spear. He was trying to fish—but he had never learned how, Katara recalled. His stick was devoid of fish. Zuko glanced at her as she approached him. Despite his clear irritation, the Fire prince made no move, allowing her to stand near him.

"How is it going?" she asked him. It seemed as good a lead-in as any.

"Fine," he snapped. She raised an eyebrow as the prince peered into the water, occasionally trying to stab into it with his makeshift spear. Katara stood by for a while, watching as he tried and failed to catch a fish. He scowled and growled as he became frustrated, and finally threw the spear on the ground. He turned around, pacing a few steps, and let out a bit of fire from his mouth. Katara remained where she was.

"What do you want?" he shouted. "Are you just here to watch me make a fool of myself? Is that why you stayed? I suppose you just wanted to see me humiliated? I bet you think this is real funny," he accused. Katara frowned at him, crossing her arms, but he continued. "Well, fine! Enjoy it. Just go ahead, and laugh. Prince Zuko, the banished prince who can't even catch a fish…" He shook his head, and sat down beside the stream, sulking. He put his head in his hands, muttering. Katara couldn't fully understand what he was saying, but she knew she heard "failure" in there.

 _It's all too much for him_ , she realized. _The anniversary of the banishment, being named a traitor, the raft, this…_ Katara took a deep breath, unfolding her arms, taking a few steps towards Zuko, and sitting down by him. "Zuko, I'm not laughing at you. I swear it. And no, I don't want to see you humiliated."

"Then why are you here?" He looked to her, golden eyes confused. "Why are you still with us?"

"Why stay?" she asked. She shrugged. "Because I care. About you. About Iroh. I couldn't just leave the two of you…so I'm staying. For now anyways." Zuko's eyes widened.

"You…care? About me?" He sounded incredulous.

"We've been through a lot in the past few weeks," Katara admitted. "I couldn't just leave you and Iroh to your crazy sister."

Zuko frowned, looking over to the stream. "And I suppose you knew it was a trap? Uncle did, too." Suddenly, he stood up again, pacing. "Why am I so _stupid_? I know Azula always lies. Why did I fall for it?"

Katara frowned as she stood up. "It wasn't your fault. And quit calling yourself stupid. Your sister is manipulative, and she knows you. She offered what you wanted, and you took it."

Zuko swerved back to look at her, eyes narrowing. "What do you know?" he demanded. He took a few angry steps towards her.

She met his eyes, standing her ground. "Your uncle told me about your banishment." Zuko's eyes widened.

"How much did he tell you?"

"Enough. Look, I can't imagine being unable to return home," she told him. "And I imagine if I were, and someone came and told me that I could return home, I would throw caution to the wind, too. I'd have fallen for it, too. Does that make me stupid?"

Zuko scowled, once again sitting by the stream. He didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, when he did, his voice was bitter.

"You remind me of her."

Katara blinked. "What?"

"You remind me of Azula."

Katara's eyes widened, then quickly narrowed. "Excuse me?! Just what have I done to remind you of your crazy sister?" Katara was offended. Zuko's sister was cold blooded in a way that disturbed Katara. She did not appreciate the comparison.

"You're like her," Zuko explained, glaring at her. He stood up, once again, glaring into her from his taller height. "She's…perfect. At everything. At planning, with people…and she's far better than me at firebending." He brought a hand to his head, running his fingers of the small hairs that were growing. "I don't understand how she does it. She sees a move, and has it mastered in a day. It's not fair! She just does it, like it somehow just comes to her. She's a firebending master, and she's two years younger than me! I've been practicing for years, and I've only recently gotten past the basics!" Katara listened to his tirade, feeling less angry as he explained. She understood where this was going… "I remember you back at the South Pole. You couldn't even freeze the right people. I remember how you stole a waterbending scroll from a group of pirates, just to learn something. And now? You're nearly a master. Weeks," he hissed. "Less than a year of training, and you go from being clueless, to being able to best me in a fight. You're just like her," he accused. "It just comes to you…and I can't compete? Why can't I do it?"

Katara waited for a few moments as Zuko let it all out.

"I think I know where you're coming from," she offered.

"No, you don't!"

Katara looked down to her boots. "When I stole that scroll, a lot of it had to do with me being outdone by Aang," she admitted. "I was trying to teach him some basic waterbending, stuff I taught myself over the years. It took me forever to learn this basic stuff. Aang had it all figured out in moments. I drove me nuts."

Zuko looked to Katara, now paying attention. "Well obviously you still figured it out pretty quickly."

"Perhaps I did," she agreed. "I did learn pretty fast once I had an actual master. And I think a lot of it had to do with training beside Aang. But I do know what you're going through."

Zuko was quiet. He shook his head. "I just don't understand why I can't get past my basic firebending," he told her.

"Have you been practicing?"

He shot a quick glare. "Of course I've been practicing. Every day, hours on end, for nearly my whole life. But I practice for hours and hours, and it all feels like a huge dead end."

Katara frowned. "A dead end? What do you mean?"

"I practice my basics," he explained. "And I practice my breathing exercises. I call on my fire…and it's like there's this wall. A big, impenetrable wall, that stops me from advancing. That stops me from being able to rise to my potential." He shook his head. "Uncle Iroh believes that I can be a powerful bender. I want to fulfill my potential, but I can't."

"Because of this 'wall'?" Katara verified.

Zuko nodded. "I don't understand what it is, but it's like I just _can't_ go any further than I have." He sat down, once again, grabbing his spear, and glaring at it. "I'll never be a master firebender."

Katara stared at him for a few moments, trying to understand what he'd just told her. She tried to imagine it. An invisible barrier preventing her from learning waterbending. She tried to imagine training with Pakku for years, unable to advance beyond the basics. It would be horribly frustrating. She sat down next to Zuko. "I've never heard of anything like that," she told him. She frowned. "It must be beyond frustrating."

Zuko let out a stressed breath. "You have no idea."

"Have you talked to your uncle about this?" Katara asked. "Maybe he'll know something about this issue."

Zuko shook his head. "No." He looked over to Katara. "Don't you dare tell him!"

"But maybe he can help," Katara insisted.

But Zuko was adamant. "The last thing I need is to humiliate myself in front of him. And this is humiliating. Who has ever heard of a Fire Nation _prince_ with such a problem?"

Katara stared at him for a moment. _A far better person than I used to think he was_ , she acknowledged. _But not even a little bit less stubborn._

"Fine," she grudgingly agreed. "But I hope you reconsider." She touched his spear, running her fingers over the wood.

"Another thing I'm a failure at," Zuko said, glaring at the spear.

"Now you're being completely unreasonable. You've never fished before; you're not going to be an instant expert."

"Do you know how to fish?" he suddenly asked her. "I mean without bending."

She nodded. "Do you…want me to teach you?"

She tried to imagine someone telling her, one day before the raft, that she would someday spend an hour teaching _Prince Zuko_ how to fish.

She'd never have believed them.

* * *

Zuko was an even worse fisherman than he was a cook, but Katara wasn't about to tell him that.

She was still somewhat in shock by what he'd confided to her−and that he wouldn't tell his own uncle. She would have figured he'd share his woes with his friendly uncle, rather than her. Just weeks ago they were enemies. Now, they were…

Katara wasn't entirely sure what they were.

Still, she saw now more than ever just how self-critical Zuko could be. Growing up with Azula and Ozai couldn't have helped in that. It was amazing how somebody as arrogant as Zuko could have such a side to him.

Then again, she supposed, Zuko frequently seemed to be the opposite side to his own coin. The Fire Nation prince was full of contradictions.

The two of them didn't talk on their way back to Iroh. They were silent, again, but this silence wasn't like the one they'd been having for the past several days. It was far more amiable.

Finally, carrying three fish between them, they stepped into the clearing where Iroh was waiting for them. He was still where he'd found that bush.

"Ah, Katara, Zuko," came Iroh's voice, without him turning around. "Remember that plant I thought might be tea?" Katara narrowed her eyes. _He didn't…?!_

"You didn't?!" Zuko said, mirroring Katara's thoughts.

"I did!" He turned around, revealing a large swollen rash over his face. "And it wasn't!"

Zuko let out a gasp, dropping the fish, and taking a step back. Katara swatted her forehead with her hand, shaking her head. "I _told_ you not to mess around with plants in the wilderness! What were you _thinking_?"

"My apologies, Katara. In the future, I'll be more careful," he assured her. He turned back to Zuko. "When the rash spreads to my throat, I will stop breathing." Katara's heart dropped, as horror set in. _He poisoned himself._ She shook her head. _He can't die like this!_ "But look what I found!" Iroh proclaimed, pulling out a branch full of red berries from behind his back. Katara's jaw dropped. _Right after…he MUST be joking!_ "These are bacui berries, known to cure the poison of the white jade plant!" He smiled for a moment, and then it fell as the old man reconsidered. "That, or make'ole berries, that cause blindness."

"What?!" Katara could only stare as Iroh held another plant, which could poison him even more.

Thankfully, Zuko was ready to react. The prince quickly grabbed the branch out of his uncle's hands, yanking it out, as he ranted. "We're NOT taking any more chances with these plants!" _Thank the spirits someone has some sense._ Katara blinked. _Never thought I'd be thinking that about Zuko._ "We need to get help," Zuko admitted.

"But where are we going to go?" Iroh questioned as he scratched his rash. "We're enemies of the Earth Kingdom, and fugitives of the Fire Nation."

"I vote Earth Kingdom," Katara said, putting her hands on her hips and she stared at the two royals.

Zuko looked in her direction. "It's not so simple. If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed." He had his fingers on his chin, forming a thoughtful expression.

"But if the Fire Nation discovers us," Iroh pointed out. "We'll be turned over to _Azula_." The two firebenders nodded simultaneously.

"Earth Kingdom it is," Zuko agreed. Katara eyed the remains of the tea Iroh had made.

"You used all of our water in that?" she asked Iroh as they began walking towards the nearest Earth Kingdom village they knew of. They had passed it earlier in the day. It was close, thankfully. Hopefully, somebody there would be able to help Iroh. Iroh shrugged, an embarrassed look on his face. Katara let out a breath, shaking her head. "I have healing abilities. But I don't know that trying to heal you with poisonous tea would be safe. And I've never tried healing effects from poison anyways," she acknowledged. "Just burns and cuts." The Earth Kingdom village was their best bet.

As they walked, Katara came up to Zuko, walking beside him.

"Here I thought Iroh was supposed to be the wise one," she said quietly. It was slightly humorous, but it held an edge of tension. She really was worried about him. "I told him not to do anything with that plant."

Zuko snorted. "He thought it was tea." He shook his head. "I'm telling you, his obsession with tea is dangerous."

She looked back to Iroh, who was walking just behind them. His rash was red, and he was still scratching. She shook her head as she turned back. "Can't argue there."

The silence between the three as they walked was companionable, and there was little awkwardness about it. It felt little different that walking with Aang and Sokka.

Katara paid little notice to how closely she and Zuko were walking, how the two of their hands would nearly brush against each other. She certainly didn't notice the appraising looks that Iroh would give them, nor the slightly pleased smile that he gave them.

* * *

Thankfully, they reached the Earth Kingdom village quickly, and without encountering any additional problems. Katara and Zuko kept glancing at Iroh, checking on his rash. He'd said he'd stop breathing when the rash reached his throat, but how long would that take?

It ultimately didn't matter. As much as Iroh scratched his rash, it hadn't seemed to do anything more than itch by the time they reached the village. There, they quickly found help.

"You three must not be from around here," the young woman treating Iroh said. "We know better than to touch the White Jade, much less make it into tea, and drink it." The girl was confident in her skill, calmly doing her work. She had a slight laugh in her voice as she spoke of Iroh's blunder. Iroh himself seemed to find it pretty funny, adding his own chuckle.

"Whoops."

Katara, who was sitting beside Zuko, could only shake her head. This was actually the sort of situation she could see Aang and Sokka getting into. They had had some close calls themselves—although she and Sokka had been taught survival skills by their father, it had been quite different actually having to find food when they were in the wilderness. They had tried to keep supplies so that they wouldn't have to do much foraging, but occasionally the need would arise. Katara, in those occasions, would not allow them to eat anything that they were uncertain about.

"So where are you travelling from?" the healer asked.

"Yes, we're travelers!" Zuko blurted, standing up. Katara's eyes closed as she remembered his awkward attempt to introduce her as his girlfriend. _Zuko is the worst liar I've ever seen…here we go again._

"Do you have names?"

"Names?" Zuko echoed nervously. "Of course we have names! I'm…Lee! And this is my uncle…uh, Mushi!" He turned to motion to Katara, who quickly stood up to introduce herself.

"My name is Katara," she said before Zuko could say anything. _I don't even want to know what he'd think of for me._ Iroh had already been leaning over to give Zuko an incredulous stare. _Mushi…what sort of name is that?_

"My nephew was named after his father," Iroh began saying, a teasing smile on his face. "So we just call him Junior!"

Katara quickly put her hands on her mouth, trying to disguise her laugh as a cough. Zuko glared at her before the girl turned to look at them.

"My name is Song. You three look like you could use a good meal. Why don't you stay for dinner?" Katara brightened a little at that.

"I'd love to," she told her, looking over to Iroh and Zuko. It had been too long since she'd been able to sit down and talk with a girl her own age. And Song seemed like a very nice girl.

Zuko seemed to disagree. "Sorry, but we need to be moving on." Katara turned to glare at him, but before she could say anything, Song had responded.

"That's too bad. My mom always makes too much roast duck." Song was shrugging, while wearing a large bright smile.

Zuko wasn't won over.

Iroh, however, was. "Where do you live, exactly?"

Zuko let out a frustrated groan, walking off. Song looked over as he left, looking disappointed. Katara raised her eyebrow. After Song finished applying the treatment to Iroh, she told them where she and her mother lived. Iroh then left to find Zuko, leaving Katara alone with Song.

"Thank you," Katara told her, offering a smile. "After Ir-Mushi drank that stupid tea, Lee and I were really worried. Thank you for helping us."

"It's my pleasure, really. I'm happy to do my part. Though, I do hope Mushi has learned his lesson from this."

Katara snorted, shaking her head. "After he drank that tea, he found some berries that he thought may cure it."

"Bacui berries?"

Katara nodded. "But he thought it could also be some other plant that causes blindness."

Song's face lit up in recognition. "What color were they?"

"Red."

"Wrong plant." Her face turned to horror. "He didn't eat those, too, did he? If he did, he needs treatment right away!"

Katara shook her head. "Lee took the plant and threw it away. That was when we decided we needed to get help."

Song let out a breath of relief. "Good." A small blush appeared on Song's cheeks. "I'm glad Lee was quick to get rid of that plant."

Katara looked over at Song for a few moments. _Oh spirits, is she…does she have a crush on Zuko?_ "Yeah," Katara said lamely.

"So…how do you know Mushi and Lee? You don't look to be related."

"We're not," Katara quickly denied. "We just…met a while back, and circumstances led to us travelling together. We're friends."

"Oh. So…are you and Lee…"

"No!" Katara practically shouted, and then blushed. "I mean, we're not…he and I…we're NOT together. Like that. I mean I like him, but I don't like him like that, and I don't really like him _that much_ anyways…" Katara's blush turned deeper red. She raised her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "We're just friends. If you want him, be my guest!" The silence was sort of awkward after that. "So…I'll see you later, then."

Song smiled. "I'll see you at dinner."

She really was a nice girl.

Katara hoped she wasn't setting herself up for too much of a heartbreak.

* * *

Hours later, at night, Katara sat with Iroh, Zuko and Song as her mother brought food to the table. Song's gaze frequently fell over to Zuko. Katara had been in favor of having dinner with Song initially−but now that she thought about it, it was certain to be awkward. What with Song having a crush on _Zuko_ , and then lying about who they were.

"My daughter tells me you are refugees. We were once refugees ourselves," the woman told them as she sat down. She was a smiling woman, graying brown hair kept back in a bun. It was easy to see where Song got her sweet attitude.

"When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village," Song explained. Katara balled her fist. It was a familiar story. So many people had been terrorized by the Fire Nation… "All the men were taken away. That was the last time I saw my father."

Katara stared sadly at the table.

It seemed she wasn't the only one who sympathized.

"I haven't seen my father in many years," Zuko said quietly. Katara frowned. _Your father is the reason Song and I don't have ours._

"Oh," Song said, completely unaware who she was talking to. "Is he fighting in the war?"

It was silent for a moment, except for Iroh slurping a mouthful of noodles.

"Yeah," Zuko said simply.

"My father is, too," Katara added. She, at least, didn't have to lie or hide half of the truth. "My father is from the Southern Water Tribe. They've been helping the Earth Kingdom for the past two years." If Katara was entirely honest with herself, she did resent her father a little bit for leaving her and Sokka. It was necessary, she knew, and she was proud of him, but she and Sokka still needed their father.

"I've heard about them," Song's mother said, smiling in Katara's direction. "From what I heard, their numbers are few, but they've still been an enormous help in protecting the coast."

Katara nodded. "That's right. The Water Tribes are the best seamen in the world. Our ships are the best, and they don't pollute the sky with black smoke and soot. The men of my tribe could take on a ship twice the size of their own with ease," she said. It was nice to boast every once and a while−especially with Zuko right next to her, struggling to refrain from retaliating. After all, 'Lee' wouldn't exactly be going on about the superiority of the Fire Nation, would he?

With the conversation having quickly turned to the war and the Water Tribe, Zuko mostly just picked at his food, taking only a few bites. He was silent as the others spoke, before he finally stood up and walked out.

* * *

Zuko sat outside, quiet. Inside his mind, however, his thoughts were in a flurry. Thoughts of Song, the gentle girl who helped his uncle and gave them food, thoughts of the war, thoughts of the Fire Nation, everything he'd been taught, thoughts of children losing their fathers, in the Fire Nation, in the Earth Kingdom, in the Water Tribe, thoughts of Katara who was still there with them…

Footsteps drew Zuko out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Song sitting down beside him, offering a kind smile.

By the end of the conversation, Zuko was more lost than ever.

* * *

Later that night, Iroh, Zuko, and Katara were prepared to leave. They stood outside, expressing gratitude and saying their goodbyes.

Iroh and Katara both thanked Song's mother for the food, and she handed Iroh a small pack of supplies for their journey.

Zuko, not saying a word, turned to leave. "Junior," Iroh called out. "Where are your manners? You need to thank these nice people."

Zuko turned around quickly, bowing only a little, and quietly and shortly said, "Thank you." Then, he turned around again. Katara frowned at him. She knew he frequently had a bad attitude at times, but this was new.

"I know you don't think there's any hope left in the world," Song cut in. "But there is hope! The Avatar has returned." Katara winced, glancing at Zuko. _I'm sorry, Song. You seem like such a lovely person, but Zuko is not who you think he is. And that comment was not helpful._

Katara hoped Song found somebody more appropriate someday.

"I know," Zuko growled out, walking off.

Katara sighed, looking over to Song. "Avatar Aang will put things right," she agreed with the Earth Kingdom girl. "Lee just…doesn't exactly believe that." _He is, after all, the son the Firelord._

Even if Ozai hadn't earned Zuko's love and loyalty, it seemed the cruel man had it anyways.

Song and her mother turned and walked back into their home, and Katara walked quickly to catch up to Zuko and Iroh. Zuko had stopped, looking to the ostrich-horse owned by Song and her mother. He walked over, pulling its reins.

"What are you doing?" Iroh asked. Katara could hear the disappointment in his voice. Zuko got onto the ostrich-horse, walking it over to Iroh. "These people just showed you great kindness!"

"They're about to show us a little more kindness," Zuko told him. Katara put her hand on her hips.

"So you're just going to steal their ostrich-horse? I don't believe you!"

Zuko's nose flared as he grew angry. "You're one to talk−or have you forgotten about how you stole a waterbending scroll?"

Katara's face turned red. "That was—that was different! Those were pirates, and some noble in the Earth Kingdom had no use for a waterbending scroll anyways!" Katara threw her hand toward Song's home, raising her voice even more. "These people have been nothing but kind to us! They saved your uncle's life! They gave you food, and supplies! And now you're just going to turn around and steal from them?!"

"We need to be able to move fast," he told her, grinding his teeth. "Why can't you accept that we need to do this?"

"Why can't you accept that you are way out of line? Why can't you just trust that things will turn out alright?" The two of them were now glaring at each other. Katara could feel the moon in the sky, strengthening her bending. For the first time in weeks, she felt prepared to fight Zuko.

She had no doubt he felt ready to fight her.

"Because I'm not an idiot," he snapped at her.

"Enough!" Iroh quickly put an end to the fight. Shaking his head, he turned to his nephew. He sighed. "If you cannot be dissuaded, then I suppose this is how it will be."

"You're just going to let him do this?" Katara questioned incredulously. Iroh typically had more sense that Zuko. As the old man climbed onto the ostrich-horse, however, Katara couldn't help but think she understood. She crossed her arms, looking away.

The two royals didn't leave, and after a moment, Zuko spoke again. "Are you coming with us?" His voice didn't have as much anger in it now.

Katara glared back. "I doubt I could fit up there. And I still want no part in this anyways."

Zuko scowled back at her, directing the horse to turn. "Fine! I didn't want to be stuck with you anyways."

"Good riddance, then!" she snapped. "I've spent more than enough time for a lifetime with you as it is!"

The two glared at each other, gold eyes piercing blue. Neither backed down, trying to enforce their will on the other, trying to make them _understand_. Finally, the two looked away.

"Will you be alright, Katara?" Iroh's voice was calm and soft. He handed her one of their packages of supplies.

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "Don't let your idiot of a nephew get you into any more trouble."

He laughed as Zuko grumbled. "Don't worry, Katara. We'll be safe. Take care of yourself−and good luck on finding your friends."

She nodded curtly, still refusing to look at them. She heard the sound of the ostrich-horse running off. By the time Katara looked up, they were just a speck in the distance.

She sighed. She really shouldn't have been so surprised by this. And she definitely shouldn't have been so surprised by Zuko. After all, when had Prince Hothead ever really shown any decent manners? The truth was that she had gotten entirely too comfortable with them. She'd never intended to stay with them. She needed to get to Omashu, to reunite with Aang and Sokka.

"I never wanted to be stuck with those two in the first place," she muttered.

"Why were you with them, then?" the question was quiet and curious. Katara turned around to see Song standing a few feet away. Katara's heart sunk as she saw Song's sad expression.

_Zuko, you idiot._

Katara shook her head. "It's a long story."

"Well your friends just stole my family's ostrich-horse. You're still here. Don't I at least get a few answers?"

"I suppose you do. Look, Song, I swear I didn't know Z-Lee was going to do that. And when he did, I tried to talk him out of it."

Song nodded. "I know. I saw."

Katara blinked. "You were watching us the whole time?" Song nodded. "But you didn't even attempt to stop them yourself?"

Song shrugged, looking to the ground. "Well, obviously I'm not happy that they took our ostrich-horse. They aren't exactly inexpensive, so it won't be easy to replace. Still, I know a person on the run when I see one, and I suppose, if they needed our ostrich-horse, at least it's going to good use."

Katara blinked, shaking her head. "Wow. I mean…you don't even know them. How are you not upset?"

"I am upset," Song told her. "I'm just not going to let it bother me for a long time." She looked down, a blush creeping to her cheeks. "I sort of liked him. Lee, I mean."

"I noticed. I don't think it really says anything good about your taste in boys."

"I suppose that's why you didn't want him?" Katara blushed. "So…how did you actually end up travelling with them?"

"They saved my life a little over a month ago," Katara told her. "I've been travelling with them ever since." She shrugged. "I didn't really intend on staying with them anyways. It's probably for the best that they're gone now."

Song's eyes showed concern. "Where are you going to go now?"

"Omashu," Katara said. "I got separated from my friends before Mushi and Lee saved me. Omashu is where my friends planned on going."

"That's a bit of a journey from here," Song said. She frowned. "Still, there's a fairly decent road leading there, going through plenty of towns along the way." She looked over to Katara, smiling. "It's probably the best way to get to Omashu from here. I know a travelling merchant−he'd be willing to give you a lift in his wagon. I think he departs tomorrow, so if we go to him…"

"That's not necessary," Katara quickly said. "You've already done so much, and what with the ostrich-horse…"

"Jing owes me a favor," Song explained. "I saved his daughter's life last year after she got a little too curious about a flower." She smiled. "He's not particularly wealthy, but he did promise me a favor if I ever needed anything. I haven't, but maybe he could lend you a ride for me?"

Katara's eyes watered as she surprised the girl with a hug. "Thank you so much," she said, backing away. "I know you have no reason at all to help, especially after what Lee and Mushi did." She frowned. "I promise, I'll pay you back for all of your kindness someday."

* * *

Katara slept outside Song's home, with a pillow and blanket provided by Song. Her sleep was nearly nonexistent, as she dreaded telling the kind old woman about what Zuko and Iroh had done. _Thanks a ton, Zuko, for leaving me to apologize for_ your _actions!_ She felt like kicking herself; how could she let herself get so attached to Prince Jerk? To think, she'd actually begun to trust him, to care for him, to think of him as a…

As a friend.

Dawn came, and Katara dutifully got up. She went into Song's house, and prepared breakfast for her and her mother−after everything, that was the least she could do. Song's mother's reaction was much like Katara thought it would be. The woman's eyes widening in shock as Katara explained and apologized. She sat down as Song held her hand, and helped Katara explain, backing Katara up when she told Song's mother that she had tried to talk 'Lee' out of it. The lady didn't seem angry, just very exhausted and sad.

"It won't be easy to replace the ostrich-horse," she said. Then she sighed. "But if we save our funds, we should be able to afford one quickly enough."

"I'll come back," Katara swore. "After I find my friends and we do what we have to, I promise I'll come back and help pay off the ostrich-horse."

"Considering that you came with the ones who took the ostrich-horse, it must seem pretty silly that I actually believe you," Song's mother said. "But then, you wanted no part in the theft, so I suppose there's no reason to hold it against you. In fact," she added. "If there's anybody who should be paying us off, it's them!"

"That's true," Katara agreed. "But I doubt Lee sees that. Mushi may agree. Still, I doubt they'd want to come back here. And I'm not going to hunt them down to make them pay you. All things considered, I don't particularly care to see them again." She gave a small smile. "I'll pay you back, someday."

Song's mother was far too kind in seeing Katara off again. Song herself led Katara to the merchant, Jing, a cheerful man who quickly agreed to take Katara to the next town over, only asking that she help load the wagon.

By noon, Katara waved goodbye to Song.

Watching trees go by, Katara smiled. For all the bitterness between her and Zuko in their last conversation, for all that she had gotten to know the Fire Nation royals, for all that she would, admittedly, miss Iroh, Katara couldn't help but feel just a little bit of excitement. After they reached the next town, there was a road which would lead her towards Omashu. Towards Aang and her brother.

She was _finally_ returning to where she belonged.

* * *

Trees passed by swiftly on the ostrich-horse, taking Zuko and Iroh further and further away from Song's home, from her village, from Katara.

Zuko scowled as he thought of her again. The waterbender. The Water Tribe peasant. The girl who gave him and Iroh water and fish. The girl who blasted him off the raft. The girl he argued with.

The girl he had shown his weakness to. The girl who seemed to understand.

Katara.

"I'm glad she's gone," he suddenly vocalized. Behind him, Iroh raised an eyebrow. Zuko, of course, didn't see.

"I rather enjoyed her company," Iroh told him. "And it seemed to me that you two were getting along quite well just yesterday." He couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"I, no, no we…we were just both worried…about you. That's all." Zuko frowned. That wasn't true.

_"Because I care. About you. About Iroh."_

Ever since his mother had disappeared, Zuko had known fewer and fewer people who claimed to care about him. Even fewer actually did.

"I hope that she won't be in trouble," Iroh continued. "She was left behind, but she was travelling with us. What if she is held accountable for your crime?"

Zuko grit his teeth, recalling the glare she had given him. _She may be a waterbender, but in that moment she had had pure fire in her eyes._ "I asked her to get on. She refused. What happens next is her own fault."

That was what he was trying to convince himself, anyways.

Because, despite their argument, he knew that he had had…something with her. An understanding. And he had grown used to her presence.

Even after their argument, he had momentarily hoped that she would come with them.

"She doesn't belong with us anyways," he told Uncle Iroh. "She's not like us. She's a waterbender, and a friend of the Avatar's." He narrowed his eyes. "It was never going to last. It wasn't supposed to last this long to begin with."

They continued along through the forest. Iroh sighed, shaking his head.

He loved his nephew dearly. He loved him as he had loved his own son−and he truly thought of Zuko as his own. Ozai, after all, was hardly ever a father to Zuko. Still, there were times when Zuko truly did push at Iroh's patience. Stealing from people who had shown them kindness, and then leaving behind a friend was definitely one of those moments. Iroh looked back, even though the village was long gone. Looking briefly to the sky, he silently asked the spirits to watch over the girl. To keep her safe.

For all Zuko's denial of anything between he and Katara, Iroh was increasingly certain that their futures were joined.

Whether that was for better or worse was yet to be determined.


	11. Part 2 Chapter 3: A Vision in the Swamp

"Yeurgh," Aang made a sound as he tasted the stew Sokka had made. He made a face, one eye squinted, mouth in a grimace as he forced it down his throat. Aang would admit that he had been adventurous when he was young, putting many things in his mouth which weren't food, and even swallowing most of those things, but Sokka's stew was a whole new category of awful.

The stew was a dark, muddy brown color. It was watery, with mushy chunks of who-knows-what strewn throughout it. The chunks varied from a pale grayish color to green to a darker brown than the liquid it was in. Aang's attempts to scoop a bite from the bowl resulted in the chunks breaking apart. As it turned out, once he got a bite, it tasted as bad as it looked.

"You don't like my cooking." Sokka's voice was blunt and unsurprised. He looked into his own bowl. "I admit, I never actually learned. Katara and Gran-Gran always did the cooking back at the South Pole. And ever since we left, she was the only one who did." Sokka frowned. "I should've helped her more, I guess. Then maybe I'd have some clue what I'm doing. Just stick to the fish−I think the fish turned out alright."

Aang's eyes widened and his hands trembled slightly as he set the bowl down. He had only just suppressed the urge to gag from the stew's taste, but now he was feeling slightly nauseous again. "Fish? You put…fish in the stew?"

Sokka shrugged. "Well it needed some meat."

"But I'm a vegetarian!" Aang protested. He put the bowl down and stood up, looking upset. "I don't eat meat, Sokka!"

Sokka put down the bowl as he remembered. "Oh, right…" He scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, is fish really considered meat?"

"Never mind the definition!" Aang snapped. Sokka stood up as he saw Aang was close to tears. "Fish are still living beings! Their lives are sacred, too!"

"Could you just…I don't know, eat around the fish?"

Aang looked down into the bowl, looking green. "I think I'll pass."

Sokka frowned lightly, sitting back down. _Great going, Sokka_ , he thought to himself. _You successfully traumatized a twelve-year-old with fish stew._ He picked the bowl up, taking a sniff. He put it back down. _Traumatized yourself, too._

The next day, he cooked again. This time, he remembered not to put any form of meat in. It didn't look or taste any better, but at least Aang could eat it.

"Are you going to miss meat?" he asked Sokka.

Sokka shrugged. "If I find any, I'll make a bit for myself. But I won't put it into anything you'll be eating."

Aang offered a smile. "Thanks." His beliefs, his culture, was important to him. There was a time where most people knew better than to serve meat to an Air Nomad. But then, nobody had seen one in a hundred years, so most people didn't realize that vegetarianism was the norm to most airbenders. Many considered it an affront to the spirits themselves to kill animals, even for food. "Katara made the same mistake the first time she cooked after leaving the South Pole."

"She did?"

Aang nodded. "Although, her cooking was still better than yours." He had a smile on his face, teasing Sokka.

"Oh, right. Well, I know I'm not the worst cook in the world."

"Yeah? Who is?"

Sokka thought for a moment. "Prince Zuko," he told Aang.

Aang raised an eyebrow. "You've never tasted his cooking. How do you know how bad his cooking is?"

"It's _Zuko_. Can you picture him cooking at all?"

"True." Aang took a few more bites of the meatless soup-stew. He frowned as he chewed. "I wonder what ever happened to him?" The last time he'd seen Zuko was on the night Zhao killed the Moon Spirit and Katara had…passed. It was unusual to go this long without any encounters with the Fire Prince.

 _Perhaps he died in the wave, too_ , Aang thought grimly.

"Don't know," Sokka responded. "And so long as we don't see him, I don't care. We've got enough problems without the jerk with the ponytail coming after us."

Aang frowned into his soup.

Despite everything, Aang couldn't help but feel concerned. Although Zuko was frequently an enemy, Aang couldn't help but wonder if they ever could've been friends. Especially after Zuko had saved him from Zhao. Granted, that had mostly been so that he could capture him himself, but still. They had worked well together that night. And Zuko and Zhao didn't seem to like each other much, despite both being Fire Nation. There was something about the prince that provoked curiosity in Aang. Aang couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to the prince.

At times, Aang almost felt like he and the prince were somehow connected.

Moments like this, when he suddenly reconsidered Zuko's fate, and somehow felt certain that Zuko was still alive.

* * *

Pakku had told Sokka to keep Aang on track when he practiced his waterbending, and Sokka did his best to do so. Aang did seem to like to mess around, and Sokka frequently had to remind him to stay focused.

Of course, Katara would have been better. All Sokka could do was make sure Aang stayed on track; he couldn't actually help Aang with his waterbending. At one point, Aang was trying to learn something called the 'Octopus Form.' Trying and struggling, Aang admitted he needed help. Sokka raised an eyebrow, but went and looked over the waterbending scroll Aang was using. Looking it over, Sokka tried moving his arms around, attempting to emulate the positions and motions on the scroll.

Finally, he flung his arms down shaking his head. "I have no idea what I'm doing," he admitted. "Sorry, Aang. I think you're on your own here−I'll probably just confuse you even more."

Before Aang could respond, the two of them heard music. A group of travelers introduced themselves as nomads, and before long, they found themselves listening to a story about two lovers who built a secret passage through the mountains.

By the next morning, they had gone through the tunnels, befriended a pair of badger-moles, and Sokka had a big, red mark on his forehead. Those nomads had just about driven him crazy. Aang seemed to like them−although even he had found himself slightly exasperated by them at times.

Still, they had finally reached Omashu. And Aang was happy. After everything that had happened, he was eager to see Bumi again. His old (actually old, now) friend. And he could even teach him earthbending−what was better than that?

And then he and Sokka reached the top of the hill.

Omashu had been taken by the Fire Nation.

* * *

"I can't believe it," Aang remarked. "I know the war has spread far, but Omashu always seemed…untouchable."

"Up until now, it was," Sokka told him as he walked over to him. "Now Ba Sing Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left." It wasn't welcome news. The war was getting more and more desperate with each advance of the Fire Nation. With Omashu under Fire Nation control, Ba Sing Se was one of the last barriers to total domination.

It also wasn't welcome news to Aang. Sokka knew that Aang had been looking forward to seeing Bumi, and he had also taken to regaling Sokka with stories about what Bumi and Aang had done before Aang had gotten frozen. After losing Katara, the revelation that Bumi's city had been taken must have been terrifying to Aang.

"I'm going in to find Bumi," Aang declared, and he began walking towards Omashu.

"Aang, stop!" Sokka grabbed his arm. "We don't even know if he's still…"

"What? Still what?" Aang snapped.

Sokka shook his head. He hadn't wanted to start an argument. "We've already lost Katara," he reminded Aang.

"I can't lose Bumi, too." He had lost far too much already.

"But what about you?" Sokka questioned. "Going into a city under Fire Nation control? That's just asking for trouble. Look, we can find another earthbending teacher…"

"That's not what this is about, and you know it! This is about finding my friend. We didn't give up on Katara," he reminded Sokka. "And I'm not going to give up on Bumi. Not when there's a chance he's still alive."

Sokka crossed his arms, but he followed Aang as he led them to a secret entrance he knew of.

"A secret passage? Why didn't we just use this last time?"

Aang finally flipped the lid off, and Sokka found himself being splashed with green sludge. "Yeurgh!"

"Does that answer your question?"

* * *

The sewer was disgusting, but it did provide them with a way into Omashu. By the time they come out, Sokka was covered in the green sludge, as well as a few purple pentapuses. He had initially panicked, only to have Aang come over and remove them. The suckers had left little red marks over his face and neck, inspiring 'pentapox'. The guards who had found them fell for it, quickly running off, one of them even convinced he had lost a relative to the imaginary disease.

It was actually sort of funny, despite the situation.

They began their search for Bumi, but quickly found themselves interrupted by the resistance.

"Soo…is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?"

" _Of course not!_ " The earthbender said. "The day of the invasion, we prepared ourselves for battle; we were ready to defend our city, to fight for our lives and freedom! But before we even had a chance, King Bumi _surrendered_." _Sounds like the sort of thing he'd do_ , Sokka thought. Bumi may be Aang's friend, but Sokka still felt the guy was sort of crazy. "The day of the invasion," the man continued. "I asked King Bumi what he wanted us to do. He looked me in the eye and said "I'm going to do NOTHING!"" He shook his head, and Sokka definitely felt a headache coming on. "It doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom, and freedom is worth dying for."

"Actually, there's another path to freedom," Aang corrected. "You can leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation. But you're outnumbered! You can't win. Now's the time to retreat so you can fight another day."

"You don't understand! They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at ANY cost!"

"I don't know general," spoke another resistance member. "Living to fight another day is starting to sound pretty good to me."

Another spoke up. "Yeah, I'm with the kid!"

Murmurs broke out among the people of Omashu, most nodding, agreeing with Aang. The general finally relented, demanding how they could get everyone out.

"Suckers!" Sokka proclaimed as an idea hit him. Everyone looked at him like he'd lost his mind, but he quickly explained his idea. Some people still looked skeptical, but as he related the story of how he and Aang had managed to convince several guards that he was sick, the other resistance members were won over.

"They actually believed it," Aang told them. "One of them even became convinced that his cousin had died of 'Pentapox.'"

Sokka nodded. "We'll fake a plague. And then we'll walk right out of the city, and they will let us."

Sokka and Aang shared a smile.

* * *

Their evacuation plan worked, but then it all went downhill. Of all the possible things that could have gone wrong, accidentally picking up a Fire Nation baby was not something Sokka, Aang, or any of the resistance members had thought of.

They weren't entirely certain what to do with him.

Several Omashu residents were in favor of keeping the baby.

"What sort of parent loses their baby like this?" a woman pointed out, a disapproving frown on her lips. "And how did he even get with us? And out of the city?" She shook her head. "Sounds neglectful to me. We may send him back, only for the boy to be lost again!"

"It would be one less soldier later," another man said, arms folded. "If we raise him, he could make a fine Earth Kingdom soldier someday."

"Why bother?" one asked. "Why should we raise our enemy's child? If you're afraid he'll fight us someday, we could easily fix that issue with a large stone."

"What?!" Sokka, who was holding the baby, took a step back, holding the baby protectively. " _Do you hear yourself?!_ " Sokka agreed that sending the baby back to his Fire Nation parents wasn't a great idea. Still, killing _babies_ was _beyond_ crossing a line. He scowled at the mad who had made the suggestion, recalling Jet's plot a few months earlier. _Some people_ , he thought, _are going way too far._

Aang stepped forward, glaring at the man. "You are not going to hurt him. He hasn't even done anything!"

"But someday," the man said.

"We'll end the war before this kid can write his name," Sokka snapped.

Arguing broke out−but most of the people of Omashu agreed that killing the baby was out of the question. The general settled the matter, declaring that until they decided what to do, the baby was under his, as well as Aang and Sokka's, protection.

"Nice change from General Fong," Sokka noted. "Can you imagine what he'd do with a Fire Nation baby?"

"I'd really rather not," Aang told him. He was looking rather green.

The question of what to do with the baby was resolved quickly enough, as they received a letter from the governor. The baby was his son.

And he was willing to trade King Bumi for him.

* * *

And that went wrong, of course.

It started out decently. King Bumi was in a metal box, being lowered down, cackling as he came into sight.

The girl from the night before, with the knives, came to negotiate. But she wasn't alone. There were two other girls, around Katara's age. One was wearing pink, her long brown hair in a braid. The other girl was…worrisome. She looked vaguely familiar, black hair in a top knot, amber eyes glinting.

That one took over the negotiations, and decided to fight.

Sokka was actually used to having fire thrown at him at this point.

But fire was not supposed to be _blue_!

Sokka's right arm was still slightly numb as they flew away on Appa.

"Those girls," he announced, "are the creepiest people I've ever met." Between the one throwing knives, to the one who paralyzed half his body, to the one who was bending _blue fire_ , the three girls had definitely overwhelmed Sokka and Aang.

If it weren't for the baby being in the middle of it, and Bumi helping Aang out, Sokka and Aang would've been in a lot more trouble.

As it was, Sokka was forced to hand over the baby. Or rather, toss the baby over, into the pink girl's arms. Knife-girl had only narrowed her eyes, but she seemed to be more concerned with the baby−her brother, as Sokka remembered. She took the baby back, though she also frowned, seeming annoyed at having to take the baby back. After he gave the boy over, neither girl seemed too interested in pursuing him. One had their hands literally full, and the other only watched once Appa came.

Aang had had to deal with the blue fire girl. "It was sort of like facing Zuko," he said. "Except worse. Way, way worse." On the bright side, Bumi was okay. Apparently, he had actually wanted to be captured.

Which sounded crazy.

And, frankly, Bumi was crazy.

But he was also the most powerful earthbender they'd ever seen. If he said he should be left alone, as a prisoner of the Fire Nation, then the Fire Nation really was in for a surprise.

It was only after they got a decent distance away from Omashu that Sokka noticed something.

"Stupid knife-girl!" He glared at his pants, which were full of holes. "These were new, now they're full of holes!"

Aang looked over sympathetically. "I can fix them, if you like?"

Sokka looked to him. "Are your sewing skills better than my cooking skills?"

"I think so," Aang told him "Sometimes I'd have to help mending clothes back with the monks." He shrugged. "It might not be the best, but the alternative is walking around with holes in your clothes…"

Sokka took off his pants, handing them to Aang. Aang got onto Appa's saddle, handing Sokka the reins.

He'd find them somewhere to land, and then he'd make dinner.

They'd have to find Aang an earthbending master somewhere else.

* * *

"So we're tracking down your brother and uncle, huh?" Mai wasn't entirely sure whether she should be surprised or not. On one hand, treason didn't sound anything like the Zuko she remembered from her childhood. On the other hand, the main thing she about the Zuko from her childhood was that he had a distinct tendency to go and do things she didn't expect.

It was something she had liked about him

She liked how she couldn't know what he would do next.

At the very least, Zuko had never been boring.

He didn't look half bad, either.

"It'll be interesting seeing Zuko again, won't it Mai?" Ty Lee teased her. Mai smiled, looking to the side. Mai was glad to have Ty Lee back. Even though Ty Lee's perky, bubbly attitude frequently grated her skin, Ty Lee was nice. She prodded her, and sought her friendship when nobody else did.

Besides Azula, that is.

And Azula's…friendship would sometimes leave a sour taste in Mai's mouth.

There were times when Mai appreciated Azula, too.

But Mai didn't forget, and she wasn't anywhere near as forgiving as Ty Lee.

Mai remembered how Azula used to push Ty Lee around, and verbally knock her down whenever she did anything better than her.

She remembered losing her knives after scoring higher than Azula on an exam−and how the knives mysteriously reappeared after she intentionally scored lower than Azula on the next exam.

She certainly remembered how Azula had, just yesterday, broken the negotiations and begun a fight instead of trading the lunatic-king for her baby brother.

Mai was good with her knives.

She was even better at keeping her thoughts to herself.

"I wouldn't recommend setting your heart on him," Azula said. Mai set her face to neutrality again. "When I paid him a visit, I ended up meeting someone new." Her voice was sweet, and sharp. She was clearly enjoying herself. "I'm afraid Zuzu already has a girlfriend. Oh well."

 _He hates that nickname_ , Mai recalled. _And he has a girlfriend?_

"He can date whoever he wants," Mai said calmly. "I don't care." Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "When did he find the time for a relationship, anyways?" From what she'd heard, he was obsessed with finding the Avatar to come home. Mai liked to think he also would have seen her as a reason to come back, but perhaps he'd never really been interested in her the way she'd been interested in him.

"Zuko hasn't changed at all," Azula said. "He still sees the need to go save inferior beings. Apparently, he insisted on rescuing some Water Tribe peasant from pirates. And the rest is history." Her voice was smug.

It was occasions like these that Mai liked to imagine awful things happening to Azula. Bad haircuts, holes in her clothing, messing up a firebending move.

"A Water Tribe girl?" Ty Lee sounded dubious. "Really?" She shrugged, looking sympathetically at Mai. "Didn't see that coming. Did you meet her? What's she like?"

"Hideous," Azula declared. "Like all Water Tribe savages. Witless, and weak. Not worthy to look at somebody from the royal line, much less touch them. But then, Zuko always did love animals." It was a pretty nasty thing to say, but it was Azula, so it wasn't that surprising. It was funny, Mai noted, how Azula prided herself on being better at everything than Zuko. Including people skills.

But she didn't notice how fake Ty Lee's laugh was.

"Zuko has always been unpredictable. It's why he isn't boring." It wasn't a positive or a negative statement. Hopefully, Azula wouldn't be able to use it against her.

"He really is a fool. Who in their right minds would choose some peasant, from an inferior nation, over you?" It was Azula's version of a pep-talk.

Mai didn't need those.

"Perhaps I can ask him why when we capture them."

If Zuko really was in love with this girl, then he wouldn't abandon her. For all his unpredictability, Mai knew that once Zuko devoted himself to something−someone−he wouldn't take it lightly. He had, after all, spent the past three years looking for someone nobody had seen in a century. If he was half as devoted to this Water Tribe girl…

"It's not just Zuko and Iroh anymore," Azula informed Mai and Ty Lee. "We have a third target now."

So they'd also be going after the Avatar. Mai had heard about what had happened at the North Pole. It sounded like going after the Avatar was a spectacular way to die.

At least it would be more interesting than Omashu.

They made their plans, preparing for departure.

Mai thought on what she'd learned. Even she had her dreams and, admittedly, Zuko had been part of many of them. He wasn't boring, after all, and he had been fairly attractive, too. She sometimes thought about what he may look like with his scar. Azula said it was hideous, and completely ruined how he looked. But she was Azula, so Mai would never take her at her word. Mai had, in some moments, imagined him coming her way, and taking her away from her parents, away from the colonies. Wherever he'd have taken her, it would've been more exciting than where she was, so long as he was there.

 _Crushes really are stupid_ , she decided, trying to disregard the small sliver of hurt she felt. _It doesn't matter; I'll find someone else. Maybe someone even better._

Mai's thoughts turned to Zuko's mysterious girlfriend. Water Tribe. Contrary to Azula's opinion, Mai didn't think being from outside the Fire Nation inherently made people inferior. The nations themselves were weak, on the precipice of being conquered entirely, but she doubted that Zuko would take interest in some weakling.

Azula was miscalculating, if she really wasn't counting on encountering Zuko's girlfriend again.

She was miscalculating, if she didn't think this girl would fight for ones she loves.

And, knowing Zuko as she did, Mai doubted his girlfriend would be defenseless.

It may even make for a better fight than against the Avatar.

* * *

A few days after escaping Omashu, Aang and Sokka were traveling through the Earth Kingdom. Truthfully, they weren't entirely sure where they were supposed to be going. Previously, they had known they were going to the North Pole. Then, they had known they were going to Omashu.

Now? They had only the advice of finding an earthbender who 'waits and listens.'

As they flew Appa over a swamp, Aang caught sight of some sort of light down in the swamp. He gazed down at it, feeling somehow enchanted. The light seemed to be following them, or perhaps he was following it.

"Hey, you taking us down for a reason?" Sokka asked. He had been sharpening his weapons when he'd noticed them going down from the clouds, towards a swamp. When Aang didn't answer, Sokka raised his voice. "Aang! Why are we going down?"

Aang jumped, seeming to snap out of…whatever it was. "What? I didn't even notice."

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Are you noticing now?" Appa was flying downwards. If this kept up, they'd be in the swamp in a minute.

Aang looked over to him. "I know this is gonna sound weird, but I think the swamp is calling to me."

And didn't that sound ominous?

"Is it telling you somewhere we can get something to eat?" That would be appreciated, at least.

"No, I…I think it wants us to land there."

_Oh, fantastic._

"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on." It looked full of plants and trees, covering every last inch of the swamp. Sokka couldn't see the ground.

"I don't know. Bumi said to learn earthbending, I would have to wait and listen. And now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?"

Once again, Sokka took a peek over Appa's saddle. " _Yes._ " The more he saw that swamp, the less he liked it−and he hadn't liked it to begin with. "It looks really easy to get lost in, for starters." And something else about it was seriously giving him the creeps. He didn't know what, but with Aang being the Avatar, he just knew they'd attract the worst the swamp had to offer. As if in agreement, Appa let out a big groan. "See," Sokka pointed out. "Even Appa and Momo don't like it here."

Aang sighed. "Okay," he agreed. "Since everyone feels so strongly about this." He looked down at the swamp once more. "Bye, swamp. Yip, yip!"

And they were off again, leaving the swamp behind.

Or they were, until a tornado suddenly appeared, sucking them all in.

They tried to avoid it, but the thing practically seemed to follow them. Finally, it spat them all out, throwing Aang, Sokka, Appa, and Momo into the swamp.

It was pretty much like Sokka thought it would be, with trees completely blocking out the sun. It was wet, too, with a good foot of water covering the ground. He dragged himself up, sopping wet.

"Where's Appa and Momo?" Aang questioned. He used his airbending to jump up the trees, to the top of the swamp. After a few minutes, he returned down, unsuccessful. "I couldn't find them," he reported. "And the tornado, it just disappeared." Sokka's eyes widened, and he turned and looked deeper into the swamp. Between the trees and vines, it was dark enough to obscure anything further into it.

It was ominous, and Sokka didn't like it.

"We have to find Appa and Momo," he stated simply. The sooner they were found, the sooner they could leave. As he began walking, Aang let out a startled shout. Sokka quickly looked back. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Aang was staring at Sokka. "Don't freak out…but you've got an elbow-leech."

"Where, where?!" Sokka searched around.

"Uh…on your elbow?" Sokka blinked, and then pulled the thing off. _Right,_ _ **elbow**_ _-leech._

"Why do things keep attaching themselves to me?!"

* * *

Sokka hacked and slashed his way through the vines in the swamp. Aang could tell Sokka didn't like being lost in the swamp, and was eager to find Appa and get out. Aang couldn't say he disagreed, but with every plant torn, Aang increasingly felt wary about the swamp.

"Maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp," he suggested. He recalled Hei Bai, the forest spirit that had gone on a rampage after his home was burnt down. Granted, cutting through some vines was hardly the same as burning down most of a forest, but Aang still felt concerned about this swamp. He knew he was feeling something in this swamp; as great as it was to interact with the spirits sometimes, Aang really didn't want to anger one.

"Aang, these are just plants! Do you want me to say 'please' and 'thank you' as I swing my machete back and forth?" Sokka had never been particularly attuned to spirits, or nature.

"But I can feel something," Aang insisted. "It's like the swamp is alive. I don't think angering it is a good idea…"

Sokka looked at him for a moment, and then resumed chopping through the vines. "I'm sure there are lots of things here that are alive," he dismissed. "And if we don't want to get eaten by them, we need to find Appa and Momo as fast as we can."

They resumed wading their way through the swamp, but Aang continued feeling nervous.

He could swear, it felt like they were being watched.

* * *

Eventually, night fell, and what little light had reached through the trees to the ground faded into darkness. Aang and Sokka were still searching for Appa and Momo.

"There's no way they can hear us," Sokka noted. "And no way we can see them. We'll have to make camp for the night." Sokka sounded frustrated. He heard bugs flying around his head, and made to swat them, pulling out his machete.

A bubble popped below them, releasing swamp gas. Sokka and Aang made faces, pinching their noses.

That wasn't the worst of it, as they heard what sounded like a woman screaming. They jumped, letting out their own shouts. The two hugged closely together, momentarily panicking. Another screaming sound rang out.

"I think we should build a fire." Sokka ran off and cut into a tree's roots.

"Sokka, the longer we're here, the more I think you shouldn't be doing that." The swamp had been ominous from the start, and now that they would have to spend the night, Aang was certain that there was something strange about the swamp. If there was a spirit guardian of the swamp, Sokka could be angering it.

"No, I asked the swamp! It said this was fine. Right, swamp?" Sokka grabbed a branch, and began pulling it back and forth, using it as a puppet. "No problem Sokka," he imitated. And then he used his machete to cut it off. Aang could only raise an eyebrow.

A couple hours later, Sokka and Aang were sitting in a hollow tree, with a small fire burning through the pieces of wood Sokka had chopped. It was still night, and it was also foggy, giving the strange swamp an even more foreboding feel to it.

"Sokka, I know this might sound crazy, but I really do feel like we aren't along in this swamp," Aang told him. "Do you feel like we're being watched?" Aang did, and he still wondered if it could be a spirit.

"Please," Sokka scoffed. "We're all alone out here." A bug flew around Sokka's face, prompting him to pull out his machete to try and swipe at it. As it flew away from Sokka, the bug suddenly burst into light, nearly blinding them for a moment. It flew off into the darkness of the trees, illuminating what appeared to be numerous sets of _eyes_ looking at Sokka and Aang.

"Except for them," Aang said.

"Right," Sokka acknowledged, a new tremor in his voice. "Except for them." He and Aang huddled together. Aang had never minded the spiritual aspect to being the Avatar. But this swamp, whether it had anything to do with the spirits or not, was officially the creepiest place Aang had ever been to. And, being a nomad, that was saying something.

* * *

Eventually, both of the boys succumbed to sleep, still huddled together. The fire slowly died out, casting them into darkness again. Despite the eeriness of their surroundings, they found respite in their dreams. They were too deeply asleep to notice vines moving around their bodies, grabbing ahold of them.

They only noticed when the vines pulled them apart, dragging them through the swamp, away from each other.

Sokka reacted the quickest, pulling out his machete and stabbing it into the ground in an attempt to stop himself from being pulled. "Aang!" he shouted, seeing his friend being dragged through the trees. The young Water Tribesman panicked as Aang left his line of sight. He couldn't help but think of how similar it was−Aang dragged away by vines, Katara by a wave. _I can't lose him, too._ He took his machete, chopping through the vines, freeing himself. He stood up, looking to where Aang had been taken, ready to follow.

A new set of vines appeared before Sokka could run after Aang, sending Sokka running to avoid them. He ran, dodging the new vines, unaware of where he was heading.

_I knew we shouldn't have landed in this swamp! Stupid tornado…_

* * *

Aang had been slower to react to the vines, and found himself quickly pulled through the swamp. He'd heard Sokka's shout, seen his panicked expression. He knew Sokka probably didn't want to be separated−not after what had happened with Katara.

Pulling himself upright and standing, Aang resisted the vines which had tied themselves around him. Finally, he used his airbending to form a sphere around him, pushing the vines back. Taking the opportunity, Aang jumped up onto a trees branch, fleeing the vines. _I have to get back to Sokka!_ He hoped he was okay. Jumping from branch to branch, however, it seemed that the vines weren't done yet. Another appeared, pulling him down to the ground with a _thud_. Aang pushed himself away, leaving the vines behind.

Finally, he seemed to have escaped the vines.

And he had no idea where he was.

"Sokka?" he called out. He looked around. This part of the swamp seemed unfamiliar. A small sliver of light reached through the trees, prompting Aang to look up.

It was dawn, and Aang now had to find not just Appa and Momo, but also Sokka.

He sighed for a moment, shaking his head. Then he started walking.

* * *

"AANG!" Sokka was calling out at the top of his lungs. It had been several hours since they had been separated, and he'd had no luck in finding him. He pulled out his machete, chopping through the vines. He recalled how Aang had been nervous about the plants the day before. Sokka had disregarded it. Now, he supposed, Aang may have been proven correct. Of course, Sokka was now mad at the plants. _If you're alive_ , he thought angrily, _then give me my friend back! He didn't even do anything to you!_ Sokka was terrified. He couldn't lose Aang, too. He _had_ to find him.

And then they needed to find Appa and Momo. Preferably, before nighttime. One night in the swamp had been enough. "Stupid swamp," he muttered. "Dumb, ugly vines! AANG! You think you're so tough, huh?" He accidentally entangled himself in the vines, falling over into the water. Looking up, he saw a glow. He saw…

It couldn't be.

"Hello?" His voice was quiet now, as he walked forward. It was her. "Yue?" She was every bit as beautiful as he remembered. More, even. She was the Moon Spirit, as he'd seen her when she'd said goodbye. And kissed him. But it wasn't possible−she couldn't be there. "This is just a trick of the light," he told himself, holding his head in his hands, looking for an explanation. "Swamp gas. I hit my head while running away last night…I'm going crazy!" It wasn't out of the question. Sokka had heard of Water Tribe men who had lost their minds after losing their families in Fire Nation raids. And he had, after all, lost his girlfriend (could he really call her that?) and his sister on the same night. Sokka certainly hoped he wouldn't have lost his mind, however. After all, Aang needed him. He turned around, walking toward the…apparition? Mirage? Hallucination?

"You didn't protect me," it said. Yue's voice. "You didn't protect me."

The words hit Sokka like a ton of stones. He rubbed his eyes. Looking again, he didn't see Yue, only a beam of light that passed through the trees. Sighing, he turned around.

Only to be confronted by Yue again.

Gasping, Sokka fell backwards, landing on his butt in the water.

Looking up again, he was alone, but Yue's voice still haunted him. _You didn't protect me._

"I'm sorry, Yue," he mumbled. It had been his duty to protect her that night, and he failed. "I'm sorry Katara." He had failed his sister, too. Taking a breath, Sokka stood up, drawing his machete again as he continued his search.

He wouldn't fail Aang.

* * *

Elsewhere in the swamp, Aang wandered around, calling for his friends. "SOKKA! APPA! MOMO!" At least it was day, Aang noted. It would have been even worse to have to look for them in the dark. Especially considering how strange the swamp was. "SOKKA!"

"I never wanted to leave you to begin with!" Aang paused as he heard a new voice talking. He blinked. That certainly wasn't Sokka talking−it sounded like a girl.

"Hello?" he called out, quieter than before. Was there somebody else in the swamp? Aang began walking towards where the voice had seemed to come from. _There's something familiar about that voice…_

"Yes," the voice was softer now, and Aang wasn't sure he'd have heard it if he hadn't begun walking towards it. "We are friends."

Aang blinked. He knew that voice, how could he not recognize it immediately? But then, it had been weeks since he'd heard it, and he'd never expected to hear it again. Eagerly, but nervously, Aang pushed his way through some vines to see the speaker.

"Katara!?"

He saw her, and a wide grin took over his face. It was her, it was Katara.

She looked different than he'd ever seen her before. She was wearing Earth Kingdom clothing, and her hair was done differently. Her loopies weren't beaded, resulting in them loosely hanging back to be pulled into a ponytail. Her hair looked a little shorter than Aang remembered it, but there was no doubt that it was her.

"I thought you were dead! Sokka and I looked for you, but we couldn't find you!" He walked closer, seeing her smile a little sadly. He reached her, trying to go for a hug…

He passed right through her.

He gasped as he did.

At once, the illusion was shattered. _She's not real_ , Aang realized. _She's not really here…she's gone._ He looked up, seeing the illusion of Katara tearing up slightly. She looked behind herself for a moment, and Aang wondered what she was looking at. When she turned back to look at Aang, she looked slightly stressed. "They need me, Aang. He needs me. I can't leave them now."

"What?" Aang questioned. "What does that mean?" He didn't understand it. And the apparition of Katara was gone. Aang pondered it for a moment, looking over to where Katara had looked. Seeing nothing, he sighed. "Hey, uh, spirits? If this is supposed to be advice, or a test, or something, I'd really appreciate some clearer instructions…"

And then someone was laughing. Aang turned around, seeing a girl standing above him on a tree's roots. The girl looked to be around his age, black hair put up neatly into a bun. She was wearing nice robes−clothes more suited to a nobleman's dinner party than to a swamp. There was a flying boar beside her.

"Hello?" he called out tentatively. Was this another illusion? "Who're you?"

The girl (apparition?) laughed again, turning around and running.

"Hey! Come back!" Aang needed answers now. This swamp's mystery had officially grabbed his attention. He began chasing the girl through the swamp, swinging around the trees, jumping up and down the branches, guided by her light laughter.

It was strange. Aang felt drawn to this girl, whether she was real or not. He knew he had to follow her, he had to find her.

Finally, he saw her standing still. "Who are you?" he questioned as he ran over to her.

Upon getting close to her, however, he suddenly saw Sokka in her place. He let out a surprised shout before barreling into Sokka, falling over him, dragging Sokka to the ground with him. Sokka was the first on his feet. Although he felt relieved to be with Aang again, he began shouting.

"Aang! Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" His eyes ran over Aang, checking that he wasn't hurt.

"I was chasing some girl," Aang told him.

"What?!" Sokka squinted at him. "So while I've been worrying about where you were, you were looking for some girl?" He stopped for a moment, considering. "Wait, what girl are you talking about?"

"I don't know," Aang said. "I heard laughing, and then I saw some girl in a fancy dress." He didn't immediately tell Sokka about seeing Katara. He didn't know what to think of it, and he didn't think it was the best thing to remind Sokka of.

"Well, there must be a tea party here, and we just didn't get our invitation!" Sokka's voice was oozing sarcasm.

"But this swamp has something going on," Aang insisted. "I think it might be from the spirit world!" He hesitated. "It may be trying to tell me something."

Sokka hesitated for a moment, looking down. "I thought I saw Yue," he admitted. "But that doesn't prove anything! Look, I think about her all the time. It's not that strange that I'd see her, if I had to have a hallucination."

It made sense, Aang supposed. After all, he had also seen Katara, and he thought of her a lot, too. But then, it wasn't just Katara that he had seen. "But what about me? I didn't know the girl I saw." Something else occurred to him. "Our visions led us right here."

Sokka frown, putting his fingers to his chin. "Well, what's here?"

Aang looked around, looked up. "The center…it's the heart of the swamp," Aang declared, looking up to a tree that towered above them, even higher than any other part of the swamp. Aang grinned, understanding. "It's been calling us here! I knew it!"

"It's just a tree," Sokka protested. "It can't call anyone! For the last time, there's nothing after us, and there's nothing magical happening here!"

As if to prove Sokka wrong, the water beneath them surged upwards, splashing around. A figure rose, appearing to be some sort of vine monster. Aang and Sokka let out a startled scream, before running to avoid the vines. Sokka was quickly grabbed by the vines, which tossed him through the water. Aang sent strong gusts of wind against the monster, forcing it to drop Sokka. It turned its attention to Aang, allowing Sokka the opportunity to pull out his machete and begin chopping through the vines. It quickly took notice, grabbing him up again, and began skiing its way through the swamp, Sokka in its grasp.

Aang attacked again, attacking with airbending to try and make it drop Sokka again.

"Aang!" Sokka shouted. "Waterbend! This is a SWAMP!"

 _Right_ , Aang thought, _lots of water here. Might as well use it!_ He nodded, and began sending strong waves against the vines, though it had little effect. Aang frowned as he saw Sokka struggle. He created an air scooter, riding it onto the top of the vines. He used his airbending to mix around the vines, compressing it. Then, as he jumped down, he froze the vines around Sokka, and broke him out.

"Are you okay?" he asked as they collided on the ground.

"Yeah, but so is the swamp monster." Sokka had his machete out, and Aang already turned around, ready to face the thing again. "I'd cut through it, but I can't get close." He looked to Aang. "But maybe you can use your bending to cut through it!"

Aang nodded, face set in determination. He recalled the blades Pakku had taught him and Katara. He executed the movements, quickly and swiftly, sending blade after blade to the vines. It worked, and he and Sokka could see openings in the vine.

It wasn't a monster at all.

"There's someone in there! He's _bending_ the vines!"

Aang leapt over, delivering a final, overwhelming blast of wind, blowing away the vines. It revealed an old man, hair gray and wild. "Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?"

"Wait!" the man declared, now letting go of the remaining vines. "I didn't call you here."

Aang blinked, exchanging a glance with Sokka. Aang and Sokka told him about how they'd been drawn into the swamp. Before they knew it, they were following the man up the tree in the center of the swamp.

"I protect the swamp from folks who want to hurt it," the man told them. "Like this fellow with his big knife."

"See? Completely reasonable," Sokka told Aang. "Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his own! Nothing mystical about it!"

An Avatar and a skeptic. Aang sometimes wondered if there had ever been a stranger pair of friends.

"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, alright," the old man corrected. He proceeded to tell Aang and Sokka about the swamp, how the world was really one large being. Aang was fascinated. Sokka said nothing, but Aang knew he didn't believe it. Aang found it all rather beautiful.

"When we were in the swamp," Aang told the man. "We both had visions. What did they mean?"

"It the swamp, you see visions of people you've lost. People we love. Folks who we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion, and so is death." Aang smiled for a second as he thought of Katara. Not really gone. But then, there was the other girl.

"But what about my vision? There was someone I've never met."

The old man was smiling. "You're the Avatar, you tell me."

"Time is an illusion," Aang considered. "So…it's someone I'm going to meet." Aang found himself smiling. He had always enjoyed making new friends−if this girl was someone he'd love, then he couldn't wait to meet her.

_People you've lost._

That, admittedly, didn't sound too great to Aang. Was he going to know this girl, love her, and then lose her?

He didn't want to lose anyone else.

And what did Katara mean?

Sokka interrupted his thought, pointing out that they still hadn't found Appa and Momo. Aang, now understanding the swamp, used his connection to it to find them.

They were in trouble.

* * *

The situation with Appa and Momo was, thankfully, resolved without much hassle. As soon as Hue came, they quickly let Appa and Momo go. As it turned out, they were another Water Tribe.

"I never knew these guys even existed," Sokka had told Aang. He shook his head. "A third Water Tribe, in the middle of the Earth Kingdom. Who knew?"

They stayed the night with them, and the tribe even provided food for them, for which Aang and Sokka were grateful. Aang ate just a few mushrooms which had grown in the swamp, one of the only vegetarian things cooked in the tribe.

Of course, Sokka was eating a bug, so he couldn't exactly comment on Aang's diet at that time.

Aang remained quiet through the meal, eventually prompting Sokka to turn and ask him what was wrong.

"Sokka, I told you about how I saw that girl in the swamp…"

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "What about it?" He didn't want to talk about his own vision.

Aang looked away for a moment, before looking to Sokka again. "I didn't tell the whole truth," he admitted. "I had two visions. I saw two people."

Sokka stopped eating to pay attention. "Who else did you see?" He had his suspicions.

"I saw Katara."

Sokka was quiet for a long moment, then he shook his head. "I'm telling you, it was just hunger getting to us…Yue, Katara. It's not that strange to see them, we've been thinking about them a lot…"

"But Katara didn't look like how I remember her," Aang protested. Sokka blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"She was wearing Earth Kingdom clothing. And her hair was done differently, I think it may have been shorter." Sokka stopped, looking at Aang for a moment.

"That…doesn't make any sense." He frowned. "I can't recall Katara ever looking like that." He shot a glance at Aang. "Did she…say anything?"

Aang nodded. "She said they need her."

"What does that even mean?"

Aang shrugged. "The swamp brought us here for a reason," Aang insisted. "Maybe her message is important?"

Sokka stood up abruptly, shaking his head. "No. NO, we're NOT paying these hallucinations any heed."

"But Sokka−"

"No, Aang! No. Katara is gone. She's dead. Whatever you saw in that swamp…" He shook his head. "Whatever that was, she's gone."

He stormed off to go to sleep, leaving Aang by the campfire.

_"They need me, Aang. He needs me. I can't leave them now."_

"What does that mean, Katara?" he murmured into the dying flames. His vision made no sense. Time is an illusion. If she never looked like that, then maybe it meant she was going to…

Aang laid down, going to sleep.

His thoughts were going in a dangerous direction, back into denial. It had taken him so long to accept the death of his people, the death of Katara. Was he just latching on to hope to have it dashed again?

Could it really have been a vision of Katara's future?

But she was dead.

Maybe it was just her spirit, visiting him. Giving advice? Giving solace? What did her words mean?

Aang drifted asleep, dreams filled with laughing girls with flying boars, dead friends, and, strangely, Katara and Zuko wandering through the Earth Kingdom together.


	12. Part 2 Chapter 4: Back Where They Began

It had been noon when Katara had left Song's village, hitching a ride on Jing's wagon. The man had even been kind enough to give her his spare map, which she had marked with her location. Within hours, she had been dropped off in a new village, where she had thanked Jing for his help, and waved goodbye.

Katara had spent the couple weeks travelling from village to village, using the map to track her progress towards Omashu. The first day or so went smoothly, but Katara quickly became aware of a serious problem: she had no money. It wasn't much of an issue immediately; she still had some of the supplies given to her, Zuko, and Iroh by Song and her mother. She had roughly half of the supplies, and since she wasn't sharing them with anybody, they lasted a little bit longer. When she was thinking of this, her thoughts once again drifted to the two Fire Nation royals. Thinking of Zuko, she felt angry, and would occasionally find herself being spiteful. _I hope he gets lost_ , she would think, _I hope he starves to death. That's just karma after you steal from those who gave you food._ But Katara would immediately regret it. After all, of all the things Zuko had done, stealing an ostrich-horse would hardly be the thing he'd die for. And then there was Iroh, who Katara found she genuinely missed. The old general was kind and thoughtful, and despite the fact that they were bound by misfortune, he had always managed to make Katara see a bright side. Thinking of him, she hoped that he was okay. Even Zuko−one child was more than enough for Iroh to lose. All of these thoughts would inevitably lead to her irritation with Zuko again. _Just go and get yourself killed, why don't you? It's not like your uncle would miss you or anything!_

Katara would shake herself out of these thoughts, reminding herself that there were much more important matters at hand. The most imminent of her problems was the money situation. It certainly wasn't the first time she'd been in this situation. She and Sokka, after all, had grown up in the South Pole. And the South Pole, though it was home, was hardly overflowing with riches. When she and Sokka left to go after Aang, they'd quickly thrown together the most basic needs, but money had been not on their minds. They brought what they could spare, but that turned out to be little. Katara remembered the first time they had gone shopping. It had been rather baffling experience for her and Sokka; even the most basic of items had seemed so expensive. She had quickly taken charge of the money situation, learning that Sokka and Aang both had a tendency to buy things before thinking it through. She tended to buy only what was needed. Sokka and Aang had pitched in in their own ways. Sokka would go hunting or fishing to find any meat or fish. Aang, of course, didn't eat meat, so Katara would cook whatever Sokka caught separately, adding it only to Sokka and her own bowls. Aang, in turn, would find other things to eat. He had, after all, travelled world a lot before he'd been frozen. He was familiar with a considerable amount of plants, and when able, would point out edible ones. Even still, they had occasionally run out of money on their way to the North Pole.

On these occasions, they would stop by a town, and take up small jobs. For a day, for two. Just to get enough money that they could get anything they needed to get a little further in their journey. And that was exactly what Katara had done over the past several days. She'd come into a new town each day, and find somewhere she could be of service. First, she had looked after a family's large gaggle of children. She had, on another day, healed a group of injured soldiers. Some gave her decent money, others gave her a single copper piece. She didn't complain about any of them, though after one person gave her only two copper pieces after she had looked after their obnoxious toddler all day, she had felt like screaming. That day had felt like a waste.

Still, she was able to get by, and on several of the days she had managed to convince somebody to give her a lift to the next town on the trail to Omashu. She still had a long way to go, and every time she marked on the map, she felt a mixture of excitement and disappointment. Disappointment because Omashu was still a long way off. But excitement because, slow as it was going, she was getting nearer and nearer to the city. To Aang and Sokka. _I can't wait to see them_ , she thought, smiling to herself. She readjusted herself in the wagon she'd hitched a ride on. It was nighttime, and she'd been working for the wagon's owner during the day. It had been exhausting manual labor, but it paid off. He gave her the ride as payment, and that probably staved at least some time off.

She slept as they passed through a small village, and through the rest of the night.

"Are you awake, miss?" the man knocked on the wagon. Katara blinked as she opened her eyes. She nodded, sitting up and pushing herself out of the wagon. She smiled, looking to the man.

"Thanks again for helping me," she said, giving him a small bow. He shook his head.

"It's the least I can do. You were a tremendous help yesterday," he told her. "And I know my farm wasn't exactly a clean job." He looked down to her robes, which were now browned at the bottom. "Still, I've needed help on it for some time. Couldn't afford to pay anyone decently, but then you come along and settle for a ride to towns over." He smiled. "Good luck, Katara, I hope you find those friends of yours. And be careful−the roads aren't always safe for a young lady such as yourself."

"Goodbye, Chun."

Katara entered the new town, looking around it. It was larger than most of the others Katara had passed through over the week. Katara walked over a bridge over a small stream. She stopped for a moment to take in the view. It was nice; it was sunrise, with reds and purples in the sky. If she looked one direction, she could still see the moon on the horizon, going down for another day. The village was surrounded by hills, and with the stream making a slight noise as the water flowed by, it made for a beautiful, peaceful scene.

Crossing over the bridge, she walked into the village. She explored a little, and bought one apple. It made for a good enough breakfast as she looked for anyone needing any service. She looked into the small moneybag she had bought. Five silver, three copper. It wasn't the worst she'd dealt with, but if she would have to find some work, for either a little pay or a free ride.

She had only turned a corner and walked two steps before stopping with a gasp. _It can't be!_

But it was.

There they were, just like they had been when she'd left them a couple weeks ago. Zuko and Iroh, sitting beside the street, backs against the stolen ostrich-horse. Iroh had his hat out, turned upside down to be used as a bag as he asked for money. Zuko sat to his right, hat on, casting a shadow over his face. He was sulking, again, as his uncle patiently waited for somebody to give them any spare coins they had.

Katara stood frozen for a moment, gaping at her two former companions. She didn't notice her cheeks turning red as she tried to figure out what to do. Should she ignore them? Say hello? Perhaps she should go and slap Zuko, start a new argument. She could go and gloat how she was doing well, without their help, or stealing. Then again, her moneybag wasn't exactly overflowing.

Before she could decide, Iroh turned, nearly looking right at her. With a gasp, Katara quickly fled into a shop, flinging the door open so hard it nearly hit the wall inside the shop. She stayed beside the doorway for a minute, hoping that Iroh wouldn't come in to say hello to her.

 _I don't want to talk to them_ , she decided. After weeks in their company, she had only just gotten away from them. Away from their conversations and arguments. Away from Iroh, who she could hardly call an enemy at this point. Away from Zuko, who she had nearly considered a friend…

 _But friends don't leave each other; they don't disregard your opinion and leave you behind. We aren't friends. And I_ don't _want to talk them again._ She breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that Iroh hadn't seen her. Or perhaps he had simply decided not to bother her.

"Excuse me?" came a somewhat tired tone. Katara looked over to see the shopkeeper looking at her. The shopkeeper was an old man, wrinkles dotting his face. His hair was only a few shades away from being white, and was pulled back into a braid. He sat behind a table, a cane resting just behind him. He had an eyebrow raised as he observed Katara. "Are you here for something? Because, if you aren't here to buy something, then I would appreciate it if you wouldn't stand in front of the door."

"Sorry," Katara apologized, stepping away from the door. She looked around the shop. There was nothing there she needed, but the shop was dusty and looking down she could see dirt on the floor. It was also sort of disorganized, she noted. "Actually, maybe I could help you. See…it's a long story, but I got separated from my friends a few weeks back. I've been travelling from town to town to try to get back to them, but I need money. So, if you could spare a few coins, I'd be happy to help clean up your shop for you, or anything else you need." She put on her friendliest smile.

The man rubbed his chin, thinking it over. "My shop does need cleaning, doesn't it? My knees cry when I so much as stand these days, my right worse than my left. To say nothing of other parts…and nobody has been around to clean my shop since my grandson left to fight in the war." The old man nodded. "You've got a deal, young one." He pointed to a door to his left. "Cleaning supplies are in there. Perhaps you could start by dusting…the dust makes some people sneeze."

Katara quickly set herself to it, and she put her effort into it. True to what the man said, she found herself sneezing as she dusted the shelves of products.

It was dull, mindless work, but it served its purpose. She would get money, and better yet, she was inside, away from Zuko and Iroh. It would have been an awkward encounter. And, frankly, she felt certain that she and Zuko would end up fighting again.

 _And it didn't matter_ , she decided as she began sweeping the floor. A least they weren't after Aang anymore, and that was what mattered. They were on their way to Ba Sing Se, and she was on her way to Omashu. So they both ended up in this town. It didn't mean anything. They would separate again, and she wouldn't see them again. Ever.

And that didn't bother her, she told herself as she organized the shop's products. She ignored how she had, admittedly, felt relieved when she first saw them. At least they hadn't gotten themselves killed. A miracle, she decided. "Such an idiot," she muttered, thinking of Zuko.

She heard a snort, and she turned to look at the shopkeeper, who was looking amused. "Do I want to know who you're talking about?" He raised his hands placatingly. "Or you don't have to tell me anything. Perhaps I've grown nosy without my family here to keep me company. Still, if you need an ear, feel free to say what you wish."

She raised her eyebrow as she resumed her work. After a few moments she responded. "There's this boy I know. He's a complete idiot." She felt a little guilty for actually saying that, for some reason. "I mean, I don't know what's going on in that head of his sometimes. He's really frustrating."

"Hmm," the old shopkeeper acknowledged. "Have you known him long?"

"Too long," Katara muttered. "He really…I kind of hated him, for a while. But then he saved my life. After I got separated from my friends, like I told you." The man nodded, stroking his long goatee.

"And after he saved you, you reevaluated your feelings for him?"

"Not at first. But we were sort of stuck together, surviving together, and after a while…yeah, I suppose I did reevaluate my feelings." _I actually kind of cared for him._

"But now he's done something to make you mad?" the man concluded.

Katara gave a bark of laughter. "You know, he was always making me mad. You should see him sometime. It's like he can't make up his mind about anything. The moment I think I have him figured out, he goes and rips my image of him to shreds." She scowled, and quickly put the fancy vase down. Her grip was too hard, and she didn't want to break it. "He drives me crazy," she admitted. "I never thought I could trust him, but I _did_. I thought I could, even though I _knew_ I shouldn't. And then he turned around and proved me wrong. _Again._ "

Finished with organizing the shop, she stopped, and put her hands on her hips.

"You spent a considerable amount of time with this boy," the man noted.

"Nearly a whole month," Katara confirmed.

"That's an awful lot of time to spend with somebody you don't like," he told her, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't," she snapped, and then she winced. "Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that." The old man raised his hand, shaking his head.

"I'm used to it. I remember when my daughter was your age." The old man smiled lightly, distantly, before resuming. "I take it you've separated from this boy, then?"

Katara nodded. "Just a couple weeks ago." She frowned. It was nice to speak her mind unhindered, but how much could she share with this man? Certainly not Zuko's true identity. "He did something really stupid. Like, _illegal_ stupid. So we split. I didn't think I'd see him again. I didn't _want_ to see him again. But I did. Right before I came in here."

The old man made an understanding sound. "So that's why you flung the door open so wildly. You came in here to avoid your boy."

Katara let out an embarrassed sigh. "Yeah. I don't want to talk to him. Ever." It was quiet for a moment before the old man began to laugh, shaking his head. Katara began to feel a bit indignant as he laughed. "What's so funny?"

The man shook his head, chuckles dying down. "I mean no offense," the man told her. "It is only that this conversation reminds me of another I once had, many years ago." For a moment, the old man was not in the shop, but elsewhere, long ago. A small smile appeared as he refocused on Katara. "My daughter knew someone who tested her patience, much like this…friend of yours."

Katara blinked. "Really?"

"Mmmhmm. He really drove her crazy. He was rude and arrogant. And then our village was attacked. My daughter was knocked unconscious, and was trapped in a burning building. She would have died…but her boy went into the fire, and saved her, injuring himself in the process. When she woke up, she was shocked to learn who her savior was. But she was grateful, and she stayed by his side as he slowly healed. She got to know him. Like you got to know your friend."

Katara looked down. "He did save me," she acknowledged. "But he's still…" _Zuko._ "He's a jerk." _Close enough._ "And I'm not sure I'd call him a friend. Thing between us are just too…" _Complicated, to put it mildly._

The old man laughed. "So he isn't your friend?"

"That's what I just said." Katara rearranged some of the items.

"And you don't care about him, then?"

Katara scowled. "Well, I…it's complicated." _You care? About me?_

The old man looked almost amused. "It's a yes or no question. But I think you've already answered it—if you didn't care about him, why have you spent this time talking about him?"

Her jaw dropped. "That not…no." She shook her head, letting out a groan. "Fine. Fine, I do care about him. Sort of. But we aren't friends. That's just not possible. It would never work out between us."

"Hm. Or perhaps you've only convinced yourself of that because avoiding him is easier than confronting your connection with him."

Katara put the plate she was holding down, glaring at the man. "Excuse me?"

The old man just shrugged. "You've already admitted that you care about him. The fact that his actions upset you clearly show that you've grown to care for him, despite your history." He smiled for a moment. "Sometimes it's easier to run away from our feeling when they are complicated. To avoid relationships when we can't know how they will end. But every love…every friendship is a treasure. And that treasure can come from the most unexpected of places." The old man blinked. "My daughter never expected what she found with her old rival. But, in the end, they were both all the happier for it."

Katara frowned, looking down at her feet. "You don't understand just how complicated it is between us. There's so much between us—why should I drive myself crazy trying to work with him? He doesn't even seem to appreciate any help offered." Busying herself, she grabbed a broom and began sweeping the floor, stopping occasionally as she and the old man spoke.

The old man leaned back in his chair, chuckling. "Well, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. But you need to consider whether you are really willing to let go of what you've formed with him. Only you can decide whether you wish to continue avoiding him, or to confront him and see where this fledgling connection goes."

Katara blinked, looking to the side for a moment. "It's not the same," she said quietly. "Whatever happened between your daughter and this friend of hers, it doesn't mean anything for us." They were divided by the war. She crossed her arms. "So…it all turned out okay, then? For your daughter and her friend?"

"Very happily," the old man confirmed. He smiled sadly. "They were married for nearly thirty years. Death ended the relationship. My daughter…she was not so lucky last year, when the Fire Nation attacked again. And her husband died beside her."

Katara blinked. "Oh. I'm sorry." _Married?_

"It is truly painful to live past one's children," the shopkeeper said. "And their son went to war afterwards. Hopefully, he will live to see me buried, see the end of this war, see his own children marry and have children."

Katara smiled sadly. "If it means anything to you, the Avatar has returned. I believe that he can save the world."

The shopkeeper nodded. "I hope I live to see that. It would be nice to die knowing that there will be peace in the world. And I hope you and your friend find some peace as well."

Katara frowned. _Not likely._ She couldn't exactly explain everything that had happened between her and Zuko. After all, she couldn't tell anyone that a pair of Fire Nation royals was hiding in town.

"We'll see," she muttered, putting away the broom and duster, looking over the shop again. "Is there anything else you need?"

"That's plenty for now," the man said. He sat up, smiling. "Thank you." He reached into his own coin bag, pulling out a gold piece. "Here."

Katara's eyes were wide. "A gold piece?" Nobody had given her that much. "That's too much!"

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm giving you a gold piece, and you're saying no?" He sounded incredulous.

"It wasn't that much work," Katara said.

"It was more than this shop has seen in months. Take the coin, and go find your friends." Katara hesitated, but she smiled as she took it.

"Thank you so much."

"Just be careful. And don't forget what I've told you."

Katara left the shop, in a better mood than she'd been when she'd entered it. It had been a few hours since she'd entered. Perhaps Iroh and Zuko had left? If they had, would it even be a relief, or a disappointment?

But no, they were still there.

And, it seemed they had found some trouble. Of course they had.

Iroh was singing loudly, hopping his feet frantically as a man swung a pair of swords at them. The man with the swords was laughing mockingly. "What do you think you're doing?!" Katara shouted at the man. She quickly found a bucket of water, drawing from it and performing a water whip, whacking the brown-haired man on the head. "Leave him alone!" She had half-ran to the Iroh and Zuko, glaring at the man.

"And who do you think you are, to tell me what to do?" He took a step towards her, swords still drawn. She didn't back down. "And what do you care?"

Zuko stood up now, glaring at the man as fiercely as Katara. "Leave her alone!" His fists were balled. The man looked back towards him.

"She's certainly got spunk. I actually sort of like it." The man ignored Zuko, looking back to Katara. She narrowed her eyes as she realized what parts of her he was looking at. "Maybe she'd like that gold piece. All I'd like is a bit of entertainment."

Katara's face turned red as she understood what the man was implying. "Get out of here!" she spat. She summoned more water. "And be glad I don't drown you in the street!"

"No need to be so unreasonable," the man said in a falsely reassuring tone. "But you also look like you could use a coin or two…"

"She said no," Zuko growled. His fists were smoking, and Katara knew he was barely refraining from literally breathing fire.

It was not a good situation.

Iroh, as usual, was the one to sort it all out.

"I am sorry, young man," Iroh said to the man with the swords. "But it seems we won't be needing your coin. And miss Katara," he added, steel entering his eyes, "will not be selling herself."

With the three of them standing against him, and a new crowd of onlookers pointing and whispering in the street, the man shrugged. "Suit yourself. But you won't be getting that gold piece." Katara put the water back where it had come from, glaring at the man as he walked away.

"Katara?" Zuko said her name. She turned around to look at him. He looked much the same he had as the last time she'd seen him. It had, after all, been only a couple weeks. His hair looked a little bit longer. Katara immediately thought of how he'd reacted a few moments ago, nearly firebending, and remembered their last encounter. At once, she glared at him.

"I didn't need your help!" she snapped at him. "I had it under control!"

Zuko's eyes widened as she shouted, apparently surprised by her fury. Then, his eyes narrowed. "Well we didn't need your help!" he fired back. "We were doing fine until you showed up!"

"Fine?" she retorted. "You call your uncle jumping up and down to avoid swords swiping his feet 'fine'?"

"It really wasn't that bad," Iroh told them. Katara and Zuko both turned to glare at him for a moment before turning back to each other.

"This is what I get for helping you. No thanks and plenty of blame!"

Zuko growled, balling his fists again. "You're the one who started this fight! Not me!" He threw his hands up, before walking away, muttering. Katara just watched, arms folded as he stalked off, away from her and Iroh.

"Katara?" Iroh's voice was gentler, and she turned to look at him.

"Hey, Ir-Mushi," she corrected. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, smiling. "I'm fine, thank you. It wasn't so bad, I've certainly encountered worse. Still, what the man said to you was entirely inappropriate." For a moment, Iroh's eyes darkened, a disapproving frown on his lips.

Katara nodded, suppressing a shiver. "I know there's people out there like that. My brother warned me…a lot, actually. Still, I think this is the first time anyone like that has paid me any attention." It wasn't a good feeling. It felt slimy and degrading.

"I'm sorry this happened," Iroh told her. He smiled. "Although, it is nice to see you again, Katara."

She smiled. "It is nice to see you, too," she admitted. "Even if Zuko is as much of a jerk as ever."

"After what happened at Song's home, I feared that you could be in trouble for what we did. I'm glad to see that you are alright."

"Lucky for me," Katara said, a bit of bitterness in her voice. "Song saw the whole thing. She vouched for me, and her mother was way too kind." Katara and Iroh sat down beside the stolen ostrich-horse. "She helped me find someone willing to give me a ride on their wagon to the next town. I've been working a few small jobs for coins and rides for the past couple weeks." She frowned. "I couldn't believe it when I saw you guys. I honestly didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"Destiny is a funny thing," Iroh told her, smiling.

"You think it's destiny that brought us together?" Katara sounded doubtful, and yet…when she thought about it, it did seem miraculous that she kept being brought onto the same path as Zuko and Iroh. Every time she thought they would separate, something would happen to bring them back together. "Or maybe Ba Sing Se and Omashu just take the same roads from where we were at."

Iroh froze for a moment, turning to look at her incredulously. "Omashu? Did you say Omashu?"

Katara froze for a moment, before remembering that they weren't after Aang anymore−or were they? Iroh had previously said that they weren't, but would they be able to get back into the Fire Lord's good graces if they captured Aang? "It's where I was going." She looked down to her lap.

"Is that where the Avatar was going?" Iroh looked stressed.

Katara looked over. "What do you care? You and Zuko aren't after him anymore, right?" she whispered.

Iroh leaned back, shaking his head. "We are not. But if your friends have gone to Omashu, then they have walked into danger."

"What do you mean?" Katara felt dread. Something was wrong, she knew it…

"Omashu has been conquered," Iroh told her grimly. Katara's eyes widened and she felt a little numb. "Word of it has only just reached this town today. If your friends were heading there, then they would have reached a new Fire Nation stronghold, full of soldiers."

Katara looked to her hands. They were trembling. "That…is where they were going. King Bumi was Aang's friend…he was gonna be his earthbending master." There was no point in keeping it secret now. It had been the plan before, but now…she clenched her fist. "What if they're in trouble? What if they got caught?"

Iroh laid a hand on her knee. "If we've learned anything from experience, it's that your friends are resourceful and quite elusive. We have heard that Omashu fell, but nothing has been heard about the Avatar being captured, or worse." He offered Katara a reassuring smile. "Your friends may not be safe in Omashu, but I believe that your friends are alright."

Katara nodded. She hoped that was true.

But now she was lost again. She had planned to meet with Aang and Sokka in Omashu, that plan was now impossible. They wouldn't be in Omashu, she figured. They weren't stupid. Once they knew Omashu was conquered, they would have left. But to where? Aang needed an earthbending master, but where would he go? She didn't know.

She didn't know where to go.

At once, Katara's throat hurt and she bit back a sob. She pulled her knees forward, burying her face. She could feel Iroh's hand on her back, and hear him saying words of comfort. It didn't help much.

She wanted Sokka.

She wanted Aang.

She wanted her family.

Her crying session lasted a few minutes, and Zuko didn't come back during that time. She was thankful, she didn't think she could stand to get into another argument at the moment. Not right then.

"What am I going to do?" she asked. She shook her head. "I have no idea how to get back to my friends."

Iroh sat calmly beside her. "I'm sorry that you've been separated from them, Katara. But I do believe that destiny has led you here." Katara looked over to him, sniffling slightly.

"But I don't understand? Why would I be destined to be here with you two?" It didn't really make much sense to her.

Iroh shrugged. "If you believe that you destiny is still with the Avatar−and I actually do believe that, Katara−then perhaps we're your road to them."

Katara blinked, thinking about it. "But if I'm with you and Zuko, and you aren't looking for Aang, and they are looking for any of us, how would I find them?"

Iroh gave her a reassuring smile. "You know, there were times I thought the Avatar may truly never be seen again. Still, the moment Aang returned to the world, I knew my nephew's destiny was entwined with the Avatar's. Not at all unlike yours is. And that destiny is not finished." Iroh spoke with certainty. "I believe that Zuko will meet the Avatar again, somewhere, somehow. And I think you're supposed to be with us when our roads meet again."

Katara smiled now. "I think I understand now. So…I suppose we'll be travelling together again, then?"

Iroh smiled. "I missed your company. I think Zuko did, too, not that he would admit it."

Katara looked away. "I don't particularly want to talk to him," she informed Iroh.

Iroh nodded. "I understand. His actions hurt you."

"I was seriously starting to trust him. I was starting to think I knew him. And then he proved me wrong." She looked over to Iroh. "Seriously, why didn't you stop him? He listens to you."

"Sometimes," Iroh agreed. "But often, he does not. I've known Zuko since he was born. I spent much time with him when he was a child. Of course, I've spent all my time with him for the past three years. I know how to deal with Zuko. There are times in which I must put my foot down. But then, I also know from experience that sometimes, Zuko will not listen. On those occasions, trying to say no will likely accomplish nothing besides making him angry."

"So you just sit back and let him do stupid stuff?"

"He learns from the consequences," Iroh told her.

Katara sat back, considering.

After a few minutes, Zuko returned. He stopped as he saw that Katara was still there. Frowning, he came to them. "You're still here," he said bluntly. Katara met his glare with one of her own.

"I'm staying."

"What?! No, you're not." His eyes were slightly widened, his face expressing his bafflement.

"Nephew," Iroh interrupted them. "She has just learned of the conquest of Omashu. It's where her friends were going. Now, she has nowhere else to go."

"So we get stuck with her again?"

"She is here as our friend," Iroh insisted. "And I hope you'll treat her as such." Zuko glared at Katara.

"What do you expect me to do? Wander aimlessly around the Earth Kingdom?" she asked sarcastically.

"You aren't our problem."

"Get over yourself," she snapped.

"If the two of you don't want to talk," Iroh said firmly. "Then you don't have to. But Katara is coming with us, and I expect the two of you to be civil to each other." The two teenagers continued glaring at each other for a moment before looking away.

"Fine," Zuko agreed. Katara just nodded. "But this does mean we need more money. It's hard enough to support the two of us, now with _her_ coming along, it'll be even more difficult."

Katara frowned. "I have money," she told them, pulling out her moneybag. "I've got one gold piece, five silver, and three copper."

Iroh grinned. "That can go a long way," he said cheerfully. He picked up his hat on the ground, putting the few copper coins he and Zuko had been given into the moneybag. Zuko looked at her warily.

The three of them used their funds to buy enough food for the day, if somewhat small portions. As night fell, they found a suitable place to sleep just outside the town.

* * *

Unnoticed by Iroh or Katara, Zuko stayed awake. He laid down, pretending to sleep, waiting until he was certain that Iroh and Katara were asleep. Once he was, he took out what he had taken earlier. A mask, exactly like the one he had previously used in his outings as the Blue Spirit. He looked to the forms sleeping near him.

Uncle Iroh, who had been there for as long as he could remember, providing love and guidance. Who had trained him, and accompanied him in his banishment, and had been ever patient with him.

And Katara. The girl who hated him, despite her previous claims otherwise. She had turned down his offer to come with them before, but now she came back to join them anyways. Hours later, Zuko still wasn't sure how he felt about that.

It was his duty to make sure they were okay, even if neither would appreciate his help. And though they had a little bit more money with Katara with them, he knew they were still lacking. But, he knew, there was plenty around them to be taken. His mind wandered back to the man who had swiped his swords at Uncle Iroh's feet, who had made Katara uncomfortable with his words and his stare.

Those swords weren't the best quality, Zuko observed. But they would do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things:  
> First, this chapter has gone through more changes than most of my revised chapters. And I still may change it more in future revisions.  
> Second, I'm starting to feel sort of sick. Just a bit, hopefully it'll turn out to be nothing worth worrying about. But, yeah, if it gets worse, then I can't guarantee that I'll feel up to doing anything over the next week or so. Just a heads up in case I suddenly disappear in the next few days, before even completing the revised chapters.  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll see how many more revised chapters I can get out over the next few days. Then I can get on to the new stuff.


	13. Part 2 Chapter 5: Hair Ties and Compromise

It was, admittedly, nice to be around Iroh again. The old firebender had a way of making things peaceful, of making people happy. He didn't leave Katara and Zuko alone together, but he alternated between them when he talked to them. He had a way of giving people hope. It was certainly something Katara needed, in the situation she was in. It was different than before, when at least she had had some idea where she could find Aang and Sokka. Now, her only hope was that by sticking with Iroh and Zuko, destiny would lead them back to her friends. She could only hope that if destiny lead Zuko to Aang, then it wouldn't just lead to more trouble.

She hoped Sokka and Aang were okay.

 _If nothing else_ , she noted _, they would certainly be happy to see me when I find them. Unless they just go into shock._ After all, they certainly though she was dead.

Katara, Iroh, and Zuko continued traveling, Iroh determining where to go. Once Katara thought about it, she actually wasn't sure that Zuko even knew where they were going. Iroh had shared his intention to go to Ba Sing Se with her, but had he ever shared that plan with Zuko? Knowing Zuko, he wouldn't be particularly fond of that idea. From what Katara had seen of Zuko, it wasn't in his nature to lie down and hide. He'd rather fight. Not to mention how…permanent Iroh's solution sounded. Go to Ba Sing Se, and wait the war out as refugees. No, Zuko wouldn't like it at all. She realized that Iroh hadn't told Zuko.

In the few days that Katara had been back with the two of them, she and Zuko hadn't talked to one another. Iroh had suggested it, and they were both happy to oblige. They traveled with two on the ostrich horse, switching out with one of them walking beside them. They went at a fairly slow pace, apparently less afraid of being tracked.

"We don't seem to be in immediate danger," Iroh told her one morning. Zuko had left the two of them, going into a nearby town. "I don't believe that Azula is following us right now."

"You think you've shaken her, then?" Katara asked.

Iroh narrowed his eyes a little, shaking his head as he frowned thoughtfully. "My niece has always prided herself on being better than anyone else, at anything she does. I believe that she is arrogant, and sometimes overestimates herself, but I'm afraid that she is more often than not skillful enough to back up her claims." Iroh shook his head again. "No, I believe that if Azula were still focused on us, she would have already found us by now. While this has been good news for us, I fear that something−or someone−else has drawn her attention." Iroh was looking at Katara, and after a few moments, she understood what he was thinking.

"You think she's going after Aang now." Internally, she groaned. _Not another enemy for Aang and Sokka to worry about. And I'm not even there to help them._

He nodded. "I fear it's possible. I can recall one of the Fire Nation's nobility was seeking governorship of a captured city in the Earth Kingdom, and I thought perhaps his name was mentioned when news of Omashu's conquest came. As it happens, that man has a daughter who is friends with Azula." Iroh stroked his chin for a moment. "If your friend and your brother went to Omashu and were noticed, then it's possible that Azula was informed, by her friend if not by the governor himself." He frowned. "There would be no small amount of glory for anybody who defeats the Avatar. And it is another opportunity to prove herself better than Zuko."

Katara let out a frustrated breath, nodding. "So, she's probably going after Aang now." Katara looked away. The good news, she supposed, was that they must not have captured Aang, or they wouldn't still be chasing him. The bad news was, just as soon as he didn't have to worry about Zuko anymore, he had to deal with Azula. And as angry as Katara was with Zuko, she still knew that Azula was even worse. "Azula is considered a prodigy at firebending, right? How dangerous is she?"

"She's one of the best firebenders seen in centuries," Iroh told her grimly. "She's already considered a master, and even worse, she has also mastered the rare ability to produce _blue_ fire."

Katara blinked. "Blue fire?" She had never seen that before. She hadn't even heard of that before. "I didn't know firebenders could do that."

"Blue fire burns hotter than normal fire."

"Super-fire then. Great." Katara shook her head. Aang had always managed to beat Zuko, but Azula was sounding even worse. She looked to Iroh, curiosity peaking. "Can you produce blue fire?" From all she'd seen, Iroh was a rather powerful bender as well, and though she hadn't seen much, the fact that he was the Firelord's brother, and had apparently been legendary as the Dragon of the West, left her certain that he was quite skilled, too. Could he produce blue fire?

Iroh just shrugged. "I've never particularly cared to try, to be honest. Blue fire has more blunt power, true, but it is how you wield fire that makes a true master. From what I know, blue fire also takes more energy to produce. It's a powerful technique, true, but its greatest strength is in a quick blast. An overwhelming, decisive blow." Iroh put a finger to his chin. "It seems to me that it wouldn't as practical for a long battle. Using so much energy would eventually wear a bender down, leaving them exhausted. But, a skilled firebender using normal flames could endure, withstanding the raw power of the blue fire. Then, when their opponent is worn out, they would be the one with the advantage."

"So it's not really practical, then?"

"Not for a long battle. And this is why I call Azula arrogant: she doesn't expect people to withstand her. She is enamored with the rare ability she mastered, and proud of how no other living bender can produce it. In her love of her power, she now uses only blue fire. Which works fine—unless somebody can match her long enough to wear her down."

Katara blinked. "But wouldn't she realize it's a bad idea to fight all the time with it? Like you just said…"

"She is not as adept at assessing people as she thinks she is," Iroh stated bluntly. "She terrorizes her supposed friends, and then convinces herself that they follow her of their own will. She thinks her father values her−Zuko's scar is proof of how little he regards his children. The moment she fails him, he will discard her as well."

"She called me an inferior being," Katara recalled, scowling.

"She has grown so used to being the most powerful fighter in the room that she believes that nobody can defeat her. Instead of walking into a fight certain that she _can_ win, she walks in certain that she _will_ win."

Katara nodded as she listened. It was interesting, really, to learn the thoughts behind a dangerous enemy.

"She has another skill that may be even more dangerous, though not as rare. She has the ability to bend lightning." Katara's eyes widened.

"Lightning?! That sounds…really dangerous."

"It is a skill that is rarely used. It has its uses, but frequently, that use is to kill one's opponent. And it is difficult to fight against such a skill."

"No kidding," Katara remarked. She thought through the elements. An earthbender may be able to pull up a wall, but that would easily be blasted to bits. A waterbender may also pull up a shield, but she doubted it would work. Airbenders and fire benders wouldn't even be able to make a durable shield. "How do you fight against lightning?"

Iroh grinned. "I actually created a technique myself." Before he could explain, Zuko walked up to them, back from town, and dropped a couple of large baskets in front of them, both filled with food.

It was undoubtedly more than they could afford. Katara crossed her arms, glaring at Zuko.

"Where did you get these?" Iroh asked him.

"What does it matter where they came from?" Zuko responded, before walking away from them. Katara narrowed her eyes. He'd stolen them. Great.

"Mmm!" Iroh had taken a bite out of one anyways.

She let out an indignant sound. "So you're just going to eat stolen food?" Shaking her head, she got up and went to follow Zuko.

She'd been silent for long enough.

She followed him through the forest, finding him by a tree. The trunk was hollow, and it seemed that there was something hidden in there, which Zuko was grabbing.

"You know I really thought you'd have figured it out the first time," she started, surprising Zuko. He quickly shoved whatever he was hiding back into the tree, turning around to glare at Katara. "I don't approve of stealing." She glared at him, crossing her arms.

"What makes you so certain I stole that food?"

"I'm not an idiot, that's what. I know how much money we had, and it wasn't enough to buy that much. And besides, what are you hiding there?"

Zuko looked away for a moment. Then he stepped aside, allowing Katara to walk forward and look into the tree. The first thing she found was a pair of swords. She pulled them out slowly. "You know how to use these?" Zuko gave a terse nod, putting his hand out to take them from her.

Slowly, she handed them to him. "I didn't know you knew how to use swords."

"I started lessons when I was young," he told her. "When I first realized how awful I am at firebending. I thought maybe at least I'd be good at this."

"Are you?" She'd never seen him using swords before. Only firebending.

"I am, actually. I believe I told you before, when I broke the Avatar out after Zhao captured him, I didn't use my firebending."

"So you used these. Huh." She kept looking at the swords. They seemed familiar. "Are those the same swords that guy was swiping at your uncle's feet?"

"You can NOT seriously be upset I stole from that guy? He could have hurt my uncle, and he was going after you next. It's probably better for everyone that that guy lost his weapons." He glared challengingly at her, before turning his attention back to the hollow tree.

To her surprise, Katara found herself agreeing. She shivered as she recalled how that man had looked at her. "I suppose you're right there," she acknowledged. Zuko looked over to her, an expression of surprise on his face.

"You actually agree with me?"

She folded her arms. "Well, that man was a jerk. I suppose if you had to steal from someone, that guy would probably be my pick, too." She went to look at the other contents of the tree, not noticing how Zuko had brightened slightly. She pulled out a mask. It was mostly blue, with a few parts being white. It looked…menacing. "What's with the mask?"

Zuko took that, too. "My face isn't exactly forgettable," he pointed out. Katara looked at him, focusing in on his scar, and then looked away. She remembered how he'd gotten it.

It occurred to her that she had never really talked to him about it.

"At least your…activities won't lead back to us, then," she noted. No firebending, no face. She crossed her arms again as he put the mask on. "So you're just going to go out and steal again?"

Zuko turned back to her, looking at her through the mask. "I thought we were on the same page?" He sounded slightly upset.

"No," she responded, shaking her head. "No, we are NOT on the same page. Just because I agreed that that one guy deserved to have his swords taken, does _not_ mean that I approve of you going on a _crime spree_ across the Earth Kingdom!"

Zuko groaned. "Well, what are we supposed to do? Beg? How has that been working?" He took a step forwards. "We can't live like this! Begging for spare coins, hoping we'll get enough for a meal. Not to mention how people treat us! You saw that guy, what he was doing! Why should we have to subject ourselves to that?"

"I'm not saying that you should! Just−"

"And now you're here, too! That's three of us, as well as the ostrich-horse."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have stolen the ostrich-horse, then!" She glared as him.

He threw his hands up in the air. She couldn't see his expression through the mask, but she could certainly see his anger. He turned away from her. They seemed to be at an impasse.

She could never approve of letting him steal from innocent people who needed food and items, but he seemed dead set on taking what they needed. They could never convince each other to switch their views.

But then…

"What if we compromise?" She said it quietly, mostly to herself as she thought. Zuko looked back to her. Her eyebrows were furrowed, her fingers on her chin.

"What do you mean, 'compromise?'"

"I mean…well, those baskets of food were a bit much, anyways, right? It's too much, it could spoil, and then nobody will have benefitted from it. So…" She continued thinking, trying to find a way to make everyone happy. "How about you just steal money? And then I'll take charge of what we do with it." Zuko folded his arms as he looked at her. "I'm good with money," she defended. "Back when I was with Aang and my brother, I was always in charge of funds. I know what we need, and how much we need. So, if you get us money, I'll take care of getting what we need, and only what we need. We can make it last."

Zuko folded his arms. Katara couldn't see his face, of course, but she couldn't help but imagine that he had his eyebrow raised. "That's all? And you're fine with this, then?"

"No," Katara told him. "I'm not fine with this, and that's not all. Look, I admit I stole that scroll from those pirates. But, seriously, what were they going to do with it? They were selling it to some Earth Kingdom noble, someone who couldn't even use it! At least I put it to good use. I don't regret taking it," she admitted. "And I can't say I blame you for taking that jerk's swords. But I absolutely do not approve of you stealing from Song and her mother. They didn't deserve that! They helped you and Iroh. How could you do that to them?" She heard Zuko sigh, shaking his head. He looked away. "If you think you have to steal for us to survive out here−and I still think you're being an idiot, for the record−then I don't want you stealing from people who desperately need that money."

He looked back at her. "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I want you to use a bit more judgement when you decide to steal. There are a lot of people out here who are in just as bad a situation as us, or barely better. Please," she stressed the word. "Don't make things harder for these people." She balled her fist as she thought of why many of those people were in such bad situations. She let out her breath, unclenching her fist. As angry as she was at the Fire Nation, picking a fight with Zuko over it wouldn't help anyone. "Find people who have money to spare," she told him. "And leave everyone else alone."

Zuko stared for a moment. "Fine," he agreed. "I'll take money from those who have it, and you can decide how to spend it." Katara found herself smiling.

The two of them were then alone. It was awkward. Katara had been mad at him ever since Zuko had taken the ostrich-horse. And she hadn't been happy to see him again. And she didn't want to talk to him.

She was sick of thinking she had him figured out, just to have him turn around again.

"Did you eat?" he asked awkwardly.

"I was more preoccupied with you," she told him.

"Oh." They were quiet again, the buzzing of bugs being the only noise. "I'm glad you didn't get in trouble," Zuko said, finally. "After I took the ostrich-horse. Uncle said you could get blamed…I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

She shrugged. "Song saw it all. She backed me up."

"She did?" Zuko seemed to panic for a moment. "You mean…she saw, and she didn't do anything?"

"Like I said, they didn't deserve that. They knew I wasn't part of it, and weren't interested in punishing me for your actions." Zuko looked away again.

"I didn't really want to leave you behind," he told her. She looked away from him.

"I know, I guess. You did ask me to get up on the ostrich-horse with you. But…that was out of line. I didn't want any part of it." She crossed her arms.

"You should get back to uncle," he told her, putting the mask back on.

She nodded. "You had better follow the rules I set," she warned him. "I will NOT be happy if I hear about you robbing random villagers."

He walked off, in search of a target. Katara sighed, shaking her head. She hoped this was a good idea. She hadn't really thought it through. She was just trying to avoid another fight with Zuko, where they'd yell and get nowhere. She was vaguely reminded of when Aang, Sokka, and her had met the two feuding Earth Kingdom tribes. She and Sokka had fought over…what? How to set up tents. All of the fighting served no purpose, dividing the tribes, and setting her against her brother for the pettiest of reasons.

Aang was the one to mediate, to balance everyone out.

Katara had tried to channel him to settle the issue with Zuko. She wondered if Aang would approve. Of course, her compromise still involved letting Zuko go off and steal stuff for their own benefit, so perhaps Aang wouldn't approve.

 _Neither would Iroh_ , she thought as she walked back to him.

"Katara," he smiled as she finally returned. "How are you? You were gone for quite a while." He looked her over.

She took a bite of the food Zuko had brought, avoiding Iroh's eyes. "I was just talking to Zuko." She chewed, swallowed, and took another bite. If nothing else, keeping her mouth full kept her from having to elaborate.

Iroh raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think the two of you would avoid talking forever," he admitted. "But I am sort of surprised you've resumed talking so soon. Knowing you two, I thought the two of you would remain angry for quite a while."

She shrugged. "Can't remain angry forever. You know, I used to get mad at my brother a lot. We disagree about a lot of stuff, and he's really immature sometimes. And I always get stuck doing the chores. We'd argue a lot, but I still love him. So even when I do refuse to talk to him, I usually cave pretty quickly." She chewed and swallowed another bite. "Not that I love Zuko."

"Hmm." It hadn't been this awkward between Iroh and Katara since she'd first been on the raft with them.

"I've sorted things out with him, though. So, no more problems. For now, anyways." She took another bite, wondering if Iroh would realize what she and Zuko had agreed to. The old man was perceptive, and he knew Zuko well. Would he believe that he stopped?

"Well," Iroh said. "I'm glad the two of you are getting along again. It was becoming rather stressful being the only one who gets along with everyone." Katara smiled.

* * *

Zuko observed the town from the rooftops, keeping out of sight. He was searching for a target…

He had agreed to Katara's rules, and he intended to follow them. He had hoped she wouldn't notice his activity, but she had. Of course she had. And she had confronted him about it, angry like he figured she would be. They started to fight, again.

And then she decided to compromise. Zuko hadn't been expecting it, and he suspected that Katara had surprised herself with the idea.

He had agreed to her terms. They were a good idea, he felt. And he found that he approved of targeting the wealthy people, avoiding people who would be truly hurt by the loss. It made sense anyways−there'd be more money to take. And, it wouldn't hurt to let her control the money.

 _Certainly better than letting Uncle Iroh control the funds_ , he thought, remembering the shopping spree his uncle had gone on while looking for his lotus tile.

Finally, someone caught his eye. A well-dressed man, carrying an ornate chest. He was getting into a carriage, two guards along with him. Behind his mask, Zuko smirked.

_Perfect._

* * *

Later in the day, Zuko returned.

"Nephew," Iroh said, offering a smile. "It's about time. I was getting worried."

"I'm fine, Uncle." He walked towards Katara, and sat down. He ate while Iroh spoke for a few minutes.

"I've been telling her about some of our nation's stories. The plays, the legends. I was just about to start telling her about Love Amongst the Dragons, but now that you're here maybe you should tell her about it? I believe you've seen the play more times than I have."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked, looking to Zuko. "I never pegged you as one to love a romance story so much."

"It was my mother's favorite play," Zuko told her. He looked to the ground. "She insisted on going to watch it every year." Zuko gave a small, wistful smile. "I've practically got it memorized." Katara smiled. Zuko stood up again. "I'll tell you while we go into town," he offered. Katara stood up, realizing that he was asking her to do her part of the deal. Control the funds.

"Sure," she agreed.

Iroh, however, didn't look particularly pleased. "So soon? You only just came back from your walk." He was looking at both of them. Katara was sure she wasn't imagining the suspicion in his eyes.

"I've been in this forest all day," she told him. "A bit of civilization would be nice."

"Hmm." But Iroh let them go.

Before heading towards the village, they stopped at where Zuko hid his mask and swords. Pushing them aside, he pulled out a small, but ornate chest. He opened it, showing it to Katara.

Her mouth dropped.

"Whoa," she said quietly. The chest was filled with gold coins. "I don't think I've ever even seen this much money before."

"You said to target people who could afford to lose some," he reminded her. "The guy I took this from could definitely afford it."

"No kidding," she said. Blinking, she knelt down and took some of the coins, putting them into her moneybag. Despite taking a few coins out, the chest remained just about full. "This should last us a long time," she said. "Honestly, I don't know that you'll even have to take any more." She frowned as she thought of something. She filed the thought away, deciding she'd talk to Zuko about it later. After all, her compromise seemed to be working so far. Maybe she should wait just a little before pushing it further. "Come on."

They walked towards the village. "So…are you actually going to tell me about that play, then?"

Zuko glanced at her. "Do you want me to?"

Katara shrugged. "I'm curious," she admitted. "I grew up in the South Pole. I know all of my tribe's legends, but the rest of the world is pretty unfamiliar to me. And I definitely don't know much about the Fire Nation, since most of my experience with your people has involved them throwing fire at me." Zuko gave a sharp glance towards her. "Your uncle told me about some other Fire Nation legends and plays. A lot of them seem really interesting. I'd love to hear some more."

Zuko awkwardly scratched his head for moment. "Alright…let me see…"

As they walked, he told her about Love Amongst the Dragons. He really must have seen it a lot of times, Katara noted. He told her all about the play, down to every detail, every character. It sounded like an enjoyable play, though Zuko noted that the troupe that performed the play was awful.

"You wouldn't believe how bad the Ember Island Players are," he told her, shaking his head. "You can give them the best story in the world, and they'll still find a way to mess it up."

"They can't be that bad, can they? I mean, your mother must have liked them enough…"

He frowned. "She loved the story so much that even the Ember Island Players couldn't ruin it for her. But, believe me, if there were a better troupe in our vicinity, she'd have probably wanted to go see theirs." Katara smiled. She could actually almost see it. A young, scar-less Zuko and his family going to see a badly performed play. It was hard to imagine them being…functional. She wondered if they really had had normal moments.

They reached the town, and they stopped talking. After all, 'Lee' shouldn't be talking about Fire Nation plays. He turned to her. "There's something I need to get," he told her. "I know you want to be in charge of the money, but there's something I want to get."

Katara frowned. "How much do you need?"

"I don't think it should be too much. Maybe one gold coin?" He looked confused, and scratched his head. "I've never bought this before; I don't know how much it costs."

Katara blinked and raised an eyebrow. "What is it you're buying exactly?" But she still handed him a gold coin. Hopefully, whatever it was, it wasn't anything too stupid. After all, they weren't exactly lacking for funds anymore.

Zuko blushed. "It's a surprise," he told her. He quickly walked off, looking around town. Katara raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips.

"A surprise?" she murmured. "Do I even want to know?" She shook her head, moving on to get the things she'd thought of.

* * *

Zuko walked around the shop he had found. It had a lot of girly things in it. Makeup, fancy robes, hair things. Finally, he found what he was after.

Hair ties. He recalled that Katara had previously held her hair back in some elaborate braided style. It was a Water Tribe style, he figured. She had also had her hair formed into some sort of loops in the front. After she had ended up on the raft with him and Uncle Iroh, the loops had quickly come undone, the beads falling out. Her braid, as he recalled, had also come undone after a few days, and her hair had become tangled. When they had finally reached shore, she had her hair trimmed a few inches to remove the tangles. Ever since, her hair had been hanging loose, though he had noticed that she had occasionally tried to braid it or tie it back without any ribbon or strings. It had always come undone fairly quickly.

 _She's probably used to keeping it tied back_ , he reasoned. _Like I was used to keeping part of my head shaved._ So he figured that she would appreciate a new hair tie. It felt sort of weird to be in the store, looking to buy something for a girl. He had never done that before. But he was hoping that it could serve as a peace offering to her. True, they had started talking again, and she didn't seem to be anywhere near as angry as she was before. Still, it all seemed a little fast, and he didn't want her to resume her hatred of him. Girls are crazy, he had said many years ago, and it still seemed to be true.

Katara was baffling. She defied all his expectations, all the time. The fact that she had once again decided to travel with them only added to it. A waterbender who willingly chose to travel beside a pair of firebenders−royal firebenders at that. Zuko recalled how he had overheard Uncle Iroh telling her that he believed that she and he were similar. He hadn't believed it at the time, and neither had Katara if he recalled correctly. But then, he was increasingly realizing that his uncle may have been right. They were both passionate, and stubborn. They were dedicated to their goals, and refused to give up. When they argued, they were nearly reflections of one another. Zuko recalled how they had argued on the night he had taken the ostrich-horse. There was fire in her eyes, just as he was sure there was in his own.

The truth was, he had missed her while she was gone, and now that she was back, he didn't want to spend their time together, whether that be another month or only one more day, fighting.

He hoped a gift would make it easier to talk to her.

There were no blue ribbons, he noted, but there was a brown one. It was almost the color of her hair. He didn't see any beads anywhere, though. He grabbed the ribbon, walking up to the shopkeeper.

"How much for this?" he asked.

"Two silver," she told him.

"Is one gold coin alright?"

The shopkeeper frowned, and went to check to see if she had change. "It'll work," she told him. "Don't you want anything else though? You didn't seriously come here just for a ribbon, did you?"

"Do you have beads?" Zuko asked. "For hair?" Unhelpfully, Zuko put his hands to his head, curling his index fingers downward, trying to imitate Katara's hair loopies.

"Put your fingers down," the woman said. "You're making yourself look like a fool." Zuko quickly put his hands down, glaring. "We don't sell beads here, sorry."

"Fine," Zuko muttered. "Just the ribbon, then." He exchanged the gold coin for the ribbon, as well as a few silver coins. He left the shop. It was almost nighttime. He blinked. He hadn't realized how long he had been in there, searching for the ribbon.

"Lee!" He turned around to see Katara. "Did you get what you wanted?" she asked.

"It was more trouble than I thought it would be," he grumbled. "Did you get what we need?"

She nodded. "And we've got some money left over." She smiled, looking hopefully at him. "Actually, I was hoping we could give that away? To people who need it, I mean."

"What?!" Zuko looked at her. "But what if we need it later?"

"We still have plenty," she pointed out. "That chest should last quite a while, even if we do give some away. And if we do run out, it's not like we can't get more. This way, not only will we benefit, but so will some other people in need." She bit her lip. "It would make me feel better about all this…"

Zuko looked at her as she said that. He _had_ been trying to patch things up, after all. The gift idea was barely panning out, so perhaps going along with this would appease her?

"Alright," he agreed, folding his arms. "You can give what we have left over away."

Katara grinned, and dragged him off to start giving coins to people who seemed to need them. Zuko blushed as her hand grasped his. He felt vaguely strange as he saw her smile.

They spent an additional hour walking around town, giving coins to a variety of people, many of whom were clearly poor. Some were refugees. Katara was the one picking who to give the coins to, but Zuko also noticed the people he had taken the food from earlier. He felt a stirring of guilt, and quietly pointed them out to Katara. They followed the couple home, and pushed several gold coins under their door.

It was nighttime when they finally began walking back from the town. Katara seemed to be in a much better mood than she had been in the beginning of the day, and she even talked to him, smiling as she spoke of the people who'd she had given money to.

It was as good a time as any to give her the gift, he supposed.

"About what I wanted to buy earlier," he began awkwardly. "It wasn't really important or anything…"

"What is it?"

"It was, well, actually it was for you. If you want it, mean. If you don't like it I can just…I don't know…" He pulled the ribbon out, offering it to Katara. "Look, I know we aren't exactly friends, but…I don't want to be fighting with you while you're here. So I was thinking maybe this could be a peace offering?"

Katara's eyes widened. "You bought this for me?" She took the offered ribbon.

"You used to wear your hair back, but you lost your beads and your hair tie…I figured maybe I could replace them. But the shop didn't have any beads, so I just got this ribbon…"

"Thank you." Katara said, offering a smile. It was dark, but Zuko could almost swear that she was blushing. "It's more than what I had. Thanks, Zuko."

There was that feeling again. "You're welcome." It was awkward for a moment. He cleared his throat. "I guess…we should get back to Uncle, then."

"Right," Katara quickly agreed. "He's probably worried about us."

They continued walking.

* * *

Iroh wasn't there when they reached their campsite. It made Katara worried, but Zuko assured her that Iroh knew what he was doing.

"He already poisoned himself once," she pointed out.

"Well that was tea," Zuko told her. "Usually he has more sense." He scowled. "He's been here all day, too. He probably wanted to get out for a bit."

"You don't think he went to town to look for us, do you?"

"If he did, once he realizes we're not there, he'll come back."

So the two of them waited. Katara took the silence as an opportunity to do her hair, using the ribbon Zuko had bought her. It really was a nice gesture, she noted. She found that she appreciated it. It didn't absolve him of stealing the ostrich-horse, or his more recent thefts. But then, as long as he played by her rules, he wouldn't really be hurting anyone who needed the money. He even went along with her idea of giving some of the money out to others. She smiled as she recalled how he had pointed out the couple he had stolen the food from. As much as his contradictions frustrated her, it was moments like these in which she found that she didn't mind being with him. She could almost call him a friend on days like this.

She fiddled with her hair, trying to decide what to do with it. She had no beads, no pins, and her hair was a little shorter than it had been. Her usual style wouldn't be feasible. Messing around, eventually she just pulled most of her hair back into a low ponytail. She loosened two strands of hair, one on each side; so that they would hang by her face a bit, before reaching the hair tie. They weren't quite like her usual hair loopies, but they as close as she could manage. She wasn't sure how it looked. It was dark and there was no mirror. And there was no way she was going to ask Zuko what he thought of her hairstyle.

Iroh finally arrived, walking into the camp, by the fire. He looked at the two of them, and at the few things Katara had bought. He turned over to look at Katara. He raised an eyebrow, and Katara couldn't help but feel that he was disappointed in them.

"I see you bought us a few more supplies." He picked up the bandaging cloths that Katara had bought. "I hope we won't have need for this." He looked back to Katara. "You also bought a new hair tie."

"Zuko did," she said. "It was a peace offering."

Zuko sat, brooding. He still didn't speak.

"I understand that we may need these things," Iroh said. "But where did you get the money?" It was like a stone dropped. Katara's face faltered, and she looked to Zuko.

It occurred to her that the tree they had the chest and Zuko's stuff hidden in wasn't that hard to find. It was almost right next to their campsite. Had Iroh found it? Was that where he had been? She should have known they couldn't keep this from him.

Iroh sighed, shaking his head. "Katara, if you please, I need to speak with my nephew. Alone." She frowned.

"I let him do it," she said.

"But it was his idea." Katara gave a glance to Zuko, who avoided her gaze. She stepped out of the campsite, walking away to give them the space Iroh had asked for.

Guilt gnawed at her as she waited. What had she been thinking? She should have known this was all a bad idea. She had been enamored with the idea of peace between her and Zuko, she realized. Her compromise hadn't solved the problem. And, as she had feared, Iroh had figured it out, nearly immediately. And he was disappointed, just as she knew he would be. He had easily identified Zuko as the one who had begun the stealing, and he was confronting him about it now. But Katara just knew that he was disappointed in her as well, and that hurt. She had grown close to Iroh over the weeks. He had been the mediator on the raft, offering her comfort and company when she had never been lonelier. He had protected her when they came ashore, and offered her information and guidance. Truthfully, he had been filling a position held previously by Pakku, by Gran-Gran. Her relationship with Zuko was…complicated, but Iroh felt almost like family.

It hurt to know that she had let him down.

She had walked over to where their things were hidden. The chest of gold was gone. Iroh had probably done his best to return it to its original owner, she supposed. The mask and swords, however, were still there.

She felt like kicking herself.

 _You'd think I'd have learned after the pirates_ , she thought.

After a few more minutes, she decided to head back to see if they were done yet. Zuko wasn't there, she immediately noticed. Iroh was sitting alone, looking to the campfire.

"Hey," she said quietly, awkwardly. "Look, I'm really sorry about all of this." She was looking down, holding her wrist. "I knew immediately that he'd stolen the food earlier. So I went and confronted him about it…"

"And decided to allow him to continue?" Iroh's voice was as kind as ever. It actually made Katara feel even guiltier.

"I thought we could compromise," she told him. "I controlled the money. I only bought what we need. And he would only rob the wealthy."

"And did that stop it from being a crime? Did it change the fact that Zuko was going up and taking that which didn't belong to him?" Iroh shook his head.

"No," Katara said softly. She kicked a foot against the ground. "I just thought that maybe if we worked out a compromise, then we could get along again. I missed it," she admitted. "But you're right. We shouldn't be stealing, and I shouldn't have let him continue." She sighed. "I'm just as much a thief, too. I used the money, after all. I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Iroh said. He was still calm. "Come, sit with me." She sat down across from him. "I'll admit," he started. "I wasn't expecting this from you. I thought you had better judgment than this." She looked down. "But perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. I do recall an incident involving pirates."

"I really should've learned my lesson then, shouldn't I?"

"I said Zuko learns from consequences. I never said he learned the first time. Sometimes, we do make mistakes twice. Of course, I should hope there wouldn't be a third time." He was looking at her. She nodded.

"It won't happen again," she promised. "Lesson learned." She frowned. "What about Zuko? Did he promise not to do this anymore?"

Iroh looked troubled. "My nephew is going through a hard time," he told her. "Bad enough when he was just banished. Now he has been labelled a traitor. All he had, gone. I'm afraid he isn't adapting well."

"Will he be okay?"

"In time," Iroh said. "But I don't know what it will take for him to find his path again."

"Guess my compromise wasn't exactly helping," she muttered.

"That wasn't the best idea," Iroh agreed. "But I do believe you are helping him, more than you realize."

She looked over to him. "You think so?"

"Sure. I know he care about you. You have the hair tie to prove it."

Katara gave a small smile. "I did convince him to give some of the money to others who need it."

Iroh smiled. "It is a good use for the money," he agreed. "If you weren't here, I fear Zuko would have indulged in a bit more senseless spending." He chuckled. "I suppose my own spending habits may have rubbed off on him."

"You can't be that bad," she denied.

"Oh, no." He grinned. "Did Zuko ever tell you about the time I lost my white lotus tile?"

Katara blinked. "No…"

He recounted the story, down to where Zuko had tossed the tile away at the end. He told her about several other occasions when he had gone on particularly large shopping sprees. She laughed at his more bizarre stories.

Before long, she fell asleep.

Zuko still hadn't returned.

* * *

Morning came, and Katara woke up wearily. She had been up fairly late. Iroh was working to prepare breakfast with what they had, and she quickly set herself to help. She saw Zuko coming back. _Was he seriously gone all night?_

"Zuko?"

He paid her a quick glance, and for a moment Katara thought he almost looked guilty, but he quickly focused his attention on Uncle Iroh. "Uncle. I thought a lot about what you said."

"You did? Good!" Iroh seemed surprised.

"It's helped me realize something," Zuko continued. "We no longer have anything to gain by traveling together."

"What?!" Katara dropped what she was holding, staring at Zuko in surprise. _He can't be serious…_ "You aren't seriously talking about leaving us?" She shot a look to Iroh, who looked resigned. She looked back to Zuko. "You can't leave Uncle Iroh." She shook her head.

"I have to do this," he told Katara firmly. He wasn't angry. He wasn't shouting. He looked back to his uncle again. "I need to find my own way."

Katara glanced at Iroh again as Zuko picked up a pack of supplies. Katara frowned, and then began following Zuko.

"You can't just leave like this," she insisted. She shook her head as he looked back.

"Katara, my destiny is not here."

"How do you know where your destiny is?" she fired back. "What makes you so sure it isn't here? With Uncle Iroh? With me?" She hadn't even thought before adding that last one in. She started blushing. "I thought we could be friends," she told him. "I thought you wanted to be friends. But now you're just gonna leave again?! Why is it every time I think we could be friends, you leave me behind?"

"This isn't about you!" Zuko snapped. He was quiet for a moment as Katara glared. "I don't want to leave you behind."

"Then don't!"

He hesitated for a moment.

Iroh walked up, pulling the ostrich-horse behind him. He handed the reins over to Zuko as Katara stared in shock.

"Are kidding me?" she asked him. "It's like you want him to leave!" Which Katara was certain wasn't really the case at all.

"Katara," Iroh shook his head. "This is his choice. Not ours." Katara's mouth dropped as she stared for a moment. She looked back to Zuko, who looked back at them. He looked sadly at Uncle Iroh, and then looked to Katara. She met his eyes, arms folded. He like he wanted to say something for a moment, but then he turned his head, and had the Ostrich-horse start running.

Katara waited for a few moments before rounding on Iroh. "What was that for? Why didn't you try to stop him? And why in the world would you give him the ostrich-horse? Who knows where he's going? Does he even have any idea where he's going?! Did he take enough food? What if Azula finds him?" Katara's mind briefly ran through all the things that could happen to Zuko. He was, after all, Zuko. If trouble didn't find him, then he would find it. She could feel tears forming, and did her best to pretend they weren't. After all, she couldn't possibly be crying over somebody she was mad at just twenty-four hours earlier.

"Katara," Iroh said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I could not have dissuaded him on this. Neither could you."

"You didn't even try," she protested.

"It wouldn't have worked. He is troubled; he believes that he needs to find his own path. Right now, the best we can do is let him."

"But what if he gets into trouble?"

Iroh gave a small smile. "That is why I gave him the ostrich-horse." He pointed to the ground. "Much easier to track than one teenage boy." The ostrich-horse's tracks were decently deep and unique. Katara slowly smiled.

"We're going to follow him, then?"

"I admit, I'm not ready to let him go off on his own just yet," Iroh admitted. "Especially with his sister after us. I don't intend on letting Zuko get into more trouble than he can handle."

"Neither do I," Katara agreed. "I suppose we should pack up camp."

Iroh nodded. "We'll let him keep a decent lead, but we should remain close enough behind him that we can intervene if necessary."

With a stone in her heart, Katara help Iroh pack up camp, preparing to follow Zuko. It had been a hectic day. With her angry at Zuko, then compromising, and then talking again. More than ever, she had begun to feel like they were friends.

And then he left again.

It actually hurt to think about how he had left again.

 _But_ , she decided as she and Iroh began following the tracks, _we'll see each other again. And so help me, he had better not find another excuse to run off._


	14. Part 2 Chapter 6: The Girl in the Cage

After they had left the swamp, Aang and Sokka had continued traveling through the Earth Kingdom. Aang still needed an earthbending master, and they knew they didn't have much time to find one. They didn't know where to begin looking for one, having only the advice to find someone who "waits and listens."

They certainly hadn't found anything useful in Chin village.

They left that town quickly after Aang was released, with Sokka declaring that it was the worst town they had ever visited. Aang couldn't disagree; an hour after leaving, he still had the taste of raw dough in his mouth. To say nothing of its texture.

From there, they had made their way to Gaoling. It was a larger town, with many shops and markets. Aang sat on the ground as Sokka debated with himself over whether or not to buy a new bag, giving little input. Sokka himself said that it was expensive, but shopping seemed to make him feel better. Ultimately, Sokka decided to go ahead and buy the bag.

As they were walking in the street, a man came up close to them, holding several flyers. "Hey! You kids like earthbending? You like throwing rocks? Then check out Master Yu's Earthbending Academy!" He grinned, handing Aang a flyer. Aang looked over the flyer as Sokka looked over his shoulder.

"There's a coupon on the back," Aang noted. "The first lesson is free!" Could it really be that easy to find an earthbending master?

Sokka shrugged. "Well, how could we say no to free stuff?"

* * *

A few hours later, Aang stood in the academy, wearing a green uniform provided. Aang awkwardly picked at his ear. Most of his classmates were younger than him. It wasn't too surprising; after all, most earthbenders would begin learning young. Aang had learned and mastered airbending young, and was now learning his third element. It was no wonder he was surrounded by younger children. Still, something in the situation felt a bit awkward.

"Take your stances!" Yu ordered, and all the students besides Aang did. "Now strike as though you're _punching through your opponent's head!_ " Once again, the students complied, and Aang's eyes widened as a large stone was flung into him, pushing him several feet back and into a nearby box. Aang was rendered speechless as the air was knocked out of him. "So," Yu started, walking over to Aang. "Are you ready to commit to more lessons? If you pay for the whole year in advance, I'll bump you up to the next belt!"

Definitely not what Aang was looking for.

At the end of the hour, Aang walked out of the class, feeling exasperated. It had gone absolutely nowhere, and Aang hadn't even learned any basic earthbending techniques. Once again, he had no clue where to find an earthbending master. Bumi couldn't teach him, and Yu was more interested in money that actually teaching. So where was he supposed to find one to teach him? One who 'waits and listens'?

"He's not the one," he told Sokka, disappointment coloring his voice. Before Sokka could respond, he overheard a pair of the other students coming out of the class.

"I think The Boulder is going to win back the belt of Earth Rumble Six," he heard one student say as he walked out.

"He's gonna have to fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to even get a shot at the champ," another student said. Aang grinned. _Best earthbenders in the world, huh? Maybe one of them could be the one I'm looking for!_

"Excuse me, but where is this earthbending tournament exactly?" he asked them.

"It's on the island of nunya," the first student said, giving a nasty smirk. "Nunya business!" They walked off, laughing. Sokka was also laughing.

"I've got to remember that one," he said. Aang gave him a look, and Sokka quickly stopped. "Right. Um." He stopped, scratching his head. "You know, we could always just follow them."

"Like stalkers?"

"No! Like…people who happen to be going the same places until we get to the right place?"

* * *

They followed the two boys, keeping at a distance in which they could see them. Finally, nearing night, they saw the boys leaving the town. They went into a nearby mountain. Aang and Sokka followed them in.

The stadium was actually huge. There was a large stone platform in the middle. This, Aang figured, must be where the earthbenders fight.

"Hey," Aang said as they found their seats. "Front row seats! I wonder why no one else is sitting here?" They really were the only ones sitting there. It felt a little strange, actually. Why wouldn't anyone else want to sit this close? They had a perfect view, after all.

His question was quickly answered by a giant boulder that crashed right next to them. Sokka's jaw dropped as he looked at the boulder, which had missed him by a matter of inches. "I guess that's why," he stated. For a moment, Aang wondered whether it was actually safe to continue sitting there. But, he figured, what were the odds of another boulder landing exactly where they were?

Cheers erupted around the stadium, and Sokka and Aang turned to look. They saw one man coming up, rising on a sphere in the center of the stadium. Then, he pushed it down. "Welcome, to Earth Rumble Six!" he shouted. "I am your host, Xin Fu! The rules are simple! Just knock the other guy out of the ring, and you win!" He hopped up, out of the ring. "Round one! The Boulder versus the big bad Hippo!"

The one identified as the Hippo let out a roar. Even from the seats, Aang could see that he had very few teeth. The Boulder went up to him. "Listen up, Hippo, you may be big, but you ain't bad! The Boulder is going to win this, in a landslide!" As he spoke, The Boulder made numerous exaggerated expressions and gestures. It was almost comical—Aang almost wondered if the man wasn't actually an actor.

"Hippo MAD!" The fight began, and was over within a just a few moves.

"The Boulder wins!" Xin Fu announced. The Boulder seemed to be fairly skilled, Aang supposed. But Aang felt certain that The Boulder was not the master he was looking for. _Bumi said I need to find someone who listens to the earth. This guy is just listening to his big muscles._ And asked Sokka what he thought, but Sokka was clearly more into watching the matches than finding Aang a master. For a moment, Aang considered pointing out why they were there, but then he smiled, and decided to let Sokka have his fun. After all, it had been too long since they'd relaxed and enjoyed themselves, since Katara had passed. If Sokka was enjoying the match, then good for him.

"Next match: The Boulder versus Fire Nation Man!" _Seriously?_ True enough, the next man to walk into the ring had his hair done up in a Fire Nation top knot, was wearing their colors, and was even waving their flag. Unsurprisingly, boos rang out around the stadium. He even started to sing the Fire Nation's anthem.

"Go back to the Fire Nation!" Sokka shouted.

Fire Nation Man was quickly defeated by The Boulder, and was flung out of the ring. He landed right next to Aang and Sokka, where the large stone had landed previously.

The next few matches continued much the same, with numerous earthbenders fighting The Boulder, only to be defeated relatively quickly. Aang wasn't entirely sure if it was because The Boulder was a better earthbender than he had initially thought, or if these other guys were just…not so good.

Either way, The Boulder made it to the final round. "Now," Xin Fu announced. "The moment you've all been waiting for. The Boulder versus your champion, The Blind Bandit!" The crowd cheered, and there were two women besides the champion.

The champion wasn't anything like what Aang had expected, though. Instead of being yet another buff adult man, the champion was…his age, he figured by her height. And a girl, too. She was certainly much shorter than the two women accompanying her. She was pale, and had black hair put up into a thick bun. There was a fringe of hair that fell over her eyes, and for a moment Aang questioned how well she could see through it…then he remembered her title. The Blind Bandit. _Is she really blind?_ As the two women took the belt and her cape, Aang concentrated on her eyes.

"She really is blind," he realized.

"I think she's going down!" Sokka proclaimed.

Aang watched. He had a feeling…and that girl looked familiar.

"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl," The Boulder declared.

The Blind Bandit, however, grinned widely. "Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder!" Her voice also sounded vaguely familiar. Aang tried to think of where he had heard it before.

"The Boulder is over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to bury you in a rockalanche."

"Whenever you're ready, The Pebble!" She laughed. And Aang's eyes widened as he recognized her. _She's the girl from the swamp!_ The finely dressed girl he had chased around, who had laughed as she ran.

It was her.

He watched closely. Destiny had led him to her, he was sure of it. She waited calmly for The Boulder to make the first move. As soon as The Boulder began to move, she made her own. Aang watched in astonishment as she moved the ground, sabotaging his move. With him down, legs spread out uncomfortably, The Blind Bandit quickly knocked him out of the ring. It had all gone down in moments, quicker than The Boulder had defeated any of his own opponents.

"Your winner, and still the champion: THE BLIND BANDIT!" Xin Fu announced. The Blind Bandit was holding a victorious fist into the air, and Aang felt entranced. She was the one he'd been looking for, he was absolutely sure of it now. He was smiling as he stared. _She waited, and listened. Just like Bumi said._ Xin Fu leapt down into the ring. "To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat The Blind Bandit!" The stadium was silent. "What? Nobody dares to face her?"

"I will!" Aang volunteered. If nothing else, at least he'd be close enough to talk to her. And he _had_ to talk to her.

He walked onto the ring. "Go Aang!" he heard Sokka shouting. "Avenge The Boulder!"

Now Aang was close, he could see The Blind Bandit more closely. She was definitely his age, give or take a year. And ignoring the century in the iceberg, of course. Her eyes were clouded over, making them look a cloudy green-grey. If she weren't blind, Aang imagined that her eyes would be a very vibrant light green. Like the new leaves growing in spring.

"Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?" Aang decided to ignore the insult.

"I don't really want to fight you," he told her. "I just want to talk to you."

She still wanted to fight, though. She launched up the ground he was standing on, but he just floated over a few feet. "Somebody's really light on his feet. What's your fighting name, The Fancy Dancer?" Aang just grinned and shrugged. Once again, he was launched in the air, and once again, he just floated around. "Where'd you go?" she murmured.

Finally, he landed behind her. "Please, wait!"

"There you are!" She launched a boulder at him, and Aang reacted on instinct. He bent a gust of air towards her stone, blowing it, and also her, out of the ring.

_Oops._

The crowd erupted in cheers, but Aang rushed out of the ring, chasing the girl who he was certain was supposed to teach him earthbending. "Please, listen! I need an earthbending teacher and I think it's supposed to be you!"

"Whoever you are, just leave me alone." Aang winced. For all that she seemed to like to mess with people, with was the first time she seemed to genuinely be upset. Reaching the walls of the stadium, she bent open a hole in the stadium, walking through it.

"Wait!" he tried again, but before he could say anything more, The Blind Bandit closed the hole, leaving him alone.

 _Great. Good job, Aang_ , he thought to himself. _Finally found an earthbending master and immediately upset her._

He glumly returned to the ring, where Sokka grabbed the bag of gold and the belt. "Way to go, Champ!" Sokka congratulated him. Aang just dragged him out of the stadium.

"That girl is supposed to be my earthbending master," Aang told him. "And now she doesn't want to have anything to do with me."

Sokka blinked. "You think so? I mean, are you sure it has to be her?"

Aang nodded. "You saw how good she is," he pointed out. "And she did what Bumi said. She waited and listened. Also, remember my vision in the swamp?"

"With Katara?" Sokka's face fell.

"No, the other girl. The girl I didn't know. It's her, Sokka." Aang smiled. "It's meant to be."

Sokka crossed his arms. "Fine. But how do we find her?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd have an idea?"

Sokka thought for a moment. "We have gold," he noted. "If we ask around town, going off of what we know about her, and your vision, it should be easy enough to get someone to tell us what we need."

Aang nodded, thinking back to his vision. "I must have seen her how she normally looks. I mean, she's not the Blind Bandit all the time…her clothes were really nice, she must come from a fairly wealthy family. And she had a pet flying boar. That can't be too common," he recalled. "Someone's got to know her."

* * *

Toph had always liked spending time in the garden. It wasn't the flowers or any of the other plants. She'd been told that they were pretty, but that never meant much to her. After all, "pretty pink flowers" is pretty meaningless when one doesn't actually know what pink is. But the garden was, at least, outside of the main house. It was as far as Toph was allowed to go. It was still a cage, but at least there was a little more freedom outside than inside. Here, at least, she could feel the earth beneath her feet, and hear some outside sounds. It was nothing close to the freedom she experienced on her escapades to the town, to the Earth Rumble Six, but it could do during the day. She came out often, still dressed in the dresses her mother chose. The garden was, at least, a nice place to think.

She hadn't been expecting last night. She was the best earthbender she knew of, taught by the badger-moles themselves. Master Yu kept her on the basics; he had no idea that she had long since surpassed him.

And the guys in the Earth Rumble weren't much better. Toph had easily gone through them the last year. And she had easily pummeled The Boulder this year. She won.

And then that boy showed up.

From the moment he walked onto the ring, Toph had known there was something off about him. His steps were strangely light, lighter than any she'd felt before. And whenever she had tried to push him out of the ring, he had disappeared from her senses, before suddenly, lightly returning to the ground. That was why she had found herself calling him Twinkletoes. After all, it wasn't as though she had any other name for him.

And then he had blasted her out of the ring. But it wasn't with the earth, she was sure of it. That part, she couldn't even explain.

And, to top it off, he wanted to talk to her. He said that was why he came out there.

He said he wanted her to teach him earthbending.

She wasn't sure what to think of the whole experience. Frankly, she was almost wondering if she'd wake up and realize it was all a dream, because the whole experience was just so bizarre…

She stopped walking for a moment as she felt something moving, just outside the garden. It was him, again, now at her family's home. _Seriously? He can't want to talk to me that much!_

But he was there, along with someone else. This person was older, taller. His footsteps weren't weird like Twinkletoes'. Shaking her head, Toph launched the two of them up in the air, and she heard their surprised shouts as the landed in the bushes. She walked over to them.

"What're you doing here, Twinkletoes?"

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked.

"Don't answer to Twinkletoes!" said the new guy. His voice was a little deeper, a little older, but Toph could vaguely hear a crack in it. "It's not manly!"

Toph ignored him. "How did you find me?" She didn't think anyone could ever trace The Blind Bandit back to Toph Beifong. To her understanding, her parents did their best to pretend to the outside world that she didn't exist. Nobody had ever seen her as Toph, and she certainly hadn't gone around advertising her alter ego.

How did Twinkletoes find her?

"Well," Twinkletoes said. "A crazy king said I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth." _What?_ "And then I had a vision in a magic swamp…" Toph raised an eyebrow. _Vision?_ It all sounded crazy.

"You sound crazy," she told him plainly. Why weas he so hung up over her, anyways?

"I'm the Avatar," Twinkletoes told her. That explained how he beat her, she supposed. Airbending. And it was probably also why he felt so weird on the ground. "I need to master earthbending to fight the Firelord."

 _What?_ This was going far enough. "Not my problem. Now get out of here, or I'll call the guards."

"Look," the other guy said. "We all have to do our part to win this war. And yours is to teach Aang earthbending." As a factual matter, Toph was aware of the war that had been fought for a century. It had never been her problem, though; Gaoling was untouched.

They really weren't gonna let it go, were they?

"Guards! Guards, help!" She felt the two boys scramble to get out of the garden before the guards arrived.

"Toph! What happened?"

"I thought I heard someone," she said, imitating the fragile little girl her parents thought she was. "I got scared."

"You know your father doesn't want you wandering the grounds without supervision, Toph." The guards led her away, back into her cage.

* * *

An hour later, she sat in a chair as her parents discussed her earthbending progress with Master Yu.

"I'm pleased to hear that Toph's private lessons are going well," her father said. "But I want to be sure she's not trying anything too dangerous." _Dangerous_ , Toph thought. _Just about everything is dangerous under your definition._

"Absolutely not," Yu verified. "I'm keeping her at the beginner's level. Basic forms and breathing exercises only." Toph blankly sat, feeling increasingly annoyed at both her parents and Master Yu. They all treated her like glass; they never even considered that being blind didn't mean she couldn't take care of herself.

She was a better earthbender than Yu. And her parents' overprotectiveness had become more and more tiresome over the past year.

She was sick of playing helpless.

 _The Avatar asked me to teach him earthbending_ , she thought. It was so sudden, and she had said no, but it was…flattering. The Earth Rumble champion title had been meaningful to her, a testament to her skill. But, if she had to lose that, then being recognized as an earthbending master by the Avatar wasn't a bad replacement. She still missed her trophy belt, though.

At that moment, one of their servants walked in. "Excuse me sir," he said to her father. "But you have a visitor."

"Who thinks they are so important that they can come into my home unannounced?!"

"Uh, the Avatar, sir." Toph's eyes widened.

_How many times do I have to say no?_

She blew at her bangs.

* * *

The Avatar was the picture of a polite guest as he and his friend entered the Beifong home. Toph could feel, though, that his attention was focused on herself as he introduced himself. His name was Aang and his friend Sokka, from the Southern Water Tribe. Toph had been taught that the Air Nomads were extinct, but here was one of them in her family's home, along with somebody from the South Pole. It was sort of neat—or it would be, if they weren't going to expose her to her parents.

Aang and Sokka were invited to have dinner with her family, along with Master Yu. They sat at the table, and before long the food was brought to them. Toph didn't need to touch the ground to know that Sokka immediately began consuming the food when it touched the table. She could hear him slurping the food down. That was sort of funny, and Toph couldn't help but appreciate it a bit. Her parents were so obsessed with rules, and proper behavior and here came a stranger, who apparently couldn't care less about eating etiquette. A servant set down a bowl in front of Toph.

"Blow on it," her father ordered. "It's too hot for her." _I can blow on my own food, Dad._

"Allow me," Aang said, sending a bit of air to cool down her bowl. She could feel the brush of the breeze. What was he playing at? Several people clapped.

"Avatar Aang," her mother said. "It's an honor to have you visit us." _You probably wouldn't be so happy, if you knew he's here for me_ , Toph thought.

"In your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?" her father asked Aang.

"I'd like to defeat the Firelord by the end of summer. But I can't do that without finding an earthbending teacher, first." She knew Aang was looking to her, and she made a face. Why was he so set on her? True, she was awesome, but it wasn't like she was the only earthbender in the world. Why couldn't he go find someone else? Most earthbenders would be thrilled at an opportunity to train the Avatar.

"Well, Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land! He's been teaching Toph since she was little." _Teaching me a whole bunch of nothing._ She supposed she agreed with Aang on this. Yu was a lousy teacher and, really, only a passable earthbender.

"Then she must be a great earthbender!" Toph felt a mixture of pride and annoyance. Pride, because it was nice to have someone appreciating her skills, rather than dismissing her for her blindness. But also annoyance, because if he kept this up, Twinkletoes was going to blow her cover. Toph feared that her parents would crack down, and restrict her even more. "Probably good enough to teach someone else!" the Avatar continued. Toph earthbent a bit of the ground to knock into him under the table. "Ow!" He was knocked in the air for a moment. She felt her father looking between them.

Toph just smiled, calmly eating.

"Toph is still learning the basics," Yu said.

"Yes, and sadly, because of her blindness, I don't think she will ever be able to become a true master." Toph suppressed her irritation.

"Oh, I'm sure she's better than you think she is," Twinkletoes said.

Toph used her earthbending to make his face go into his bowl.

She took another bite.

What happened next was that she heard him sneeze−and heard and felt all of the plates and bowls blow up, covering her with the food.

"What's your problem?!" she finally snapped, standing up.

"What's your problem?!" he fired back. She felt her father looking back and forth between them.

"Shall we move to the living room for dessert, then?" her mother suggested.

* * *

A couple hours later, she was supposed to be in bed. Aang and Sokka had happily accepted Toph's father's offer to stay the night. Undoubtedly, they still wanted to try to pressure her to teach Aang.

By this point, she figured they should have a truce. Aang was sort of annoying, given how he was almost giving away her alter ego to her father, but he was also sort of fun. She'd never had the chance to interact with anyone else her age before, and looking back, their fight at the dinner table was actually kind of cool. She'd never gotten a chance to do anything like that before, especially not at home. Plus, he was the Avatar—he must have had all sorts of adventures.

And, frankly, she did have questions.

Walking into the guest room, she felt him take a position, ready to fight.

"Relax," she told him. "Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, okay?" She felt him relaxing.

"Right." She felt him scratching his head. "I'm sorry about that, too. Can we talk?"

"Sure. Mind if we do it outside?" If he seriously wanted her to teach him earthbending, then it wasn't a conversation she wanted anyone overhearing.

"Outside's great." They walked out, leaving Sokka to sleep.

They were silent as they walked through the halls, but as soon as they reached the garden, Toph began speaking. "So…could you run it by me again why you want me to teach you earthbending? You kind of sounded like a lunatic the first time." _Something about a crazy king and a swamp?_

She could feel Aang rubbing the back of his head. "Heh. Sorry. Okay, long story short, I originally wanted King Bumi of Omashu to teach me. He's an old friend of mine, and a great earthbender. But Omashu was conquered, and he stayed to try to take back his city. He told me to find somebody who waits and listens to be my master."

"And I'm it?" Toph asked. It was an accurate description of how she earthbent, she supposed. But… "I can't be the only earthbender in the world who waits and listens."

"I suppose," Aang acknowledged. "But I also had a vision of you, in a swamp."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It's complicated. Sokka and I ended up in this swamp, which swamp had a lot of spiritual energy in it. So…like, time is an illusion, right? Sokka and I both saw people we've lost. But I also saw you, even though I only just met you now. And that vision helped me find you!"

"It did?" She could feel him nodding.

"I saw a flying boar with you in the vision."

"My family's symbol. So that's how you found me." There was one question answered, at least.

"I think it's destiny," Aang told her. "Everything has led me to you, and you're…well, you've got to be one of the best earthbenders in the world, despite what your parents think."

Toph grinned. "I know. But seriously, it is nice to be acknowledged." She laughed. "The Avatar seeking me out to teach him. Never mind Earth Rumble−this is definitely a better achievement."

"Soo…you'll teach me then?" She could hear his hope.

"Not so fast, Twinkletoes. Even if I do want to teach you, my parents would never agree to it." Her tone became sad. "I'm sure you've noticed, they're way too protective. They think I'm fragile, that if I so much as walk out of the house, I'm going to break. They treat me like I'm made of glass, just because I'm blind." She was frowning as she leapt up onto the railing of a bridge. She walked across, hands spread out to help balance her. Aang followed.

"Being blind doesn't seem to have held you back at all," Aang noted.

"Even though I was born blind," Toph explained, "I've never had a problem seeing." She leapt off of the bridge. "I 'see' with earthbending. It's kind of like seeing with my feet! I feel the vibrations in the earth, and I can 'see' where everything is. You, that tree, even those ants." She felt Aang looking around. She smiled. She couldn't see, but she was far from blind.

"That's amazing!" Aang told her. It was nice, she noted, to have someone understand, to appreciate her abilities.

"My parents don't understand. They've always treated me like I'm helpless."

"Is that why you became the Blind Bandit?"

"Yeah." She needed freedom. Going out to the Earth Rumble matches was the closest she had ever gotten. More and more, they didn't feel like enough, though. She would always have to return home, to her parents' coddling. Not to mention how isolated they kept her. She was twelve years old, and she had never had an actual, human friend.

"Then why stay here where you're not happy?"

"They're my parents," Toph said simply. Even though they drove her crazy with their overprotectiveness, she still loved them. And they loved her. That was why they kept her so sheltered. It was misguided, but Toph couldn't just leave and break their hearts. And besides… "Where else am I supposed to go?"

"You could come with us," Aang suggested.

"Yeah. You guys get to go wherever you want. No one telling you what to do—that's the life." She wanted that freedom. "It's just not my life." She couldn't do it. Suddenly, she felt more people coming. She quickly knelt down, trying to get a better feel of who was coming. "We're being ambushed!" She grabbed Aang, pulling him along as they ran. Before they could get far, an opponent came up from the ground. It was one of the earthbenders from the Earth Rumble, Toph recognized. The guy that liked going underground. She and Aang prepared to fight, but immediately found themselves trapped in metal boxes.

"I think you kids owe me some money," she heard Xin Fu say.

"Let us out of here!" she shouted. She was out of contact with the ground. It wasn't a pleasant experience, leaving her more blind than she usually would be.

"Not until you give us the money you cheated us out of!"

"What are you talking about?" Aang asked. "We didn't cheat you out of anything!"

"Nice try," The Boulder said. "But The Boulder clearly saw how the Blind Bandit threw the match!"

Toph scowled at them. "I've never thrown a match in my life! You wanna see a match, let me out of here!"

"If you two won't cough up the money," Xin Fu decided. "Then perhaps your parents will, miss Beifong." Toph could feel the boxes being moved.

Was she seriously being kidnapped?

She rested her head again the back of the box.

"Not exactly what I meant when I said I wanted out of the house more," she muttered.

"Toph?" she heard Aang saying. "Are you okay?"

"Besides being kidnapped by Earth Rumble fighters to try to hold me for ransom? I'm fine."

"I'm so sorry, Toph. I never meant for this to happen."

She snorted. "Obviously." She was quiet for a moment. "My parents will come for me. They'll pay the ransom." _And ground me for life. How could they possibly not figure out who she was after this?_

"This never would have happened if I hadn't gone up to you during the tournament."

"Knock it off with blaming yourself, Twinkletoes. How were you supposed to know those knuckleheads were gonna kidnap us just because you airbent me off of the ring?"

Aang was quiet for moment. "Sokka will get us out of this," he finally said.

"He doesn't seem like much," Toph pointed out. He wasn't even a bender.

"He's a lot smarter than he seems," Aang told her.

* * *

They were kidnapped. Because of course they were. Sokka looked over the ransom note, momentarily enjoying that he now had The Boulder's autograph, before turning his attention back to the problem at hand. _Just once_ , he thought _, just once, can't we spend some time in a place where nobody wants to capture or kill us?_

At least it wasn't the Fire Nation. If they had captured Aang, he would be in a lot more trouble. Handed to the Firelord, imprisoned forever−if they didn't just go ahead and kill him. No, this time, it was just some earthbenders trying to get money—which the Beifongs had plenty of. Sokka kept calm as he spoke to Toph's parents and to Master Yu, but he couldn't help but internally worry as he, Master Yu, and Toph's father went to the arena to get Toph and Aang back.

* * *

"You think you're so tough?" Toph challenged them from within her metal cage. "Why don't you come up here so I can smack that grin off your face!" They were back in the Earth Rumble stadium, waiting for her parents to pay the ransom.

"I'm not smiling," Xin Fu said bluntly. How many times had Toph been around this man?

"Toph!" she heard her father shout from the side.

"Here's your money," Sokka said, closer than her father had been a few moments ago. "Now let them go." She felt her box being lowered and opened, and she leapt out. Finally, she could 'see' again. She quickly observed everyone present in the stadium. Xin Fu, The Boulder, and the other Earth Rumble participants were present. Her father, Master Yu, and Sokka had come for her and Aang.

But Aang still hadn't been released.

Regardless, she ran to her father, who put his hand on her back.

"What about Aang?" Sokka demanded. "Let him go!"

"I think the Fire Nation would pay a hefty price for the Avatar," Xin Fu said. "Now get out of my ring!" Toph hesitated as her father and Master Yu tried to take her away.

She could feel the other Earth Rumble fighters coming to attack Sokka, to take away Aang and hand him to his enemy.

There was no way Sokka could take them.

Aang would be lost.

To his credit, Sokka seemed to recognize this. She could feel him looking to her as her father led her out of the stadium. "Toph! You've beaten these guys before, right?" he called out. "Think you could lend a hand, here?

Her father paused, along with her. "What are you talking about? My daughter has never encountered these lunatics before! And she has never fought anyone, either. She is blind. She is blind, and tiny, and helpless, and…fragile! She could not help you!" Toph listened, eyes closed.

She remembered talking to Aang, how different it was than talking to her father or Master Yu. Aang saw her as she really was. Not blind, not helpless, but as a powerful and skilled earthbender.

She had never really had a friend before.

She took her hand out of her father's grasp. "Yes," she declared. "I can."

And she went to face their enemies.

* * *

Later that night, Aang and Sokka sat in Toph's house. Her father had been silent ever since he'd seen her fight. Aang was optimistic that the experience would help her father see her as he saw her. As an incredibly gifted earthbender, clearly more skilled than nearly any other in the world.

Aang was sure of it now, Toph was the best earthbender in the world. Except, perhaps, Bumi. But he was also one hundred years older than Toph. Who knew how amazing Toph could be in a few more years?

Her father couldn't possibly keep her caged after this, could he? He watched as Toph prepared to speak to her parents.

"Dad," Toph started. "I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way. But the obedient little helpless blind girl you think I am just isn't me. I love fighting! I love being an earthbender!" Aang could see from the side that she was smiling. "And I'm really, _really_ good at it! I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me a secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me, but I'm twelve years old, and I've never had a real friend." Aang and Sokka exchanged glances. "So now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change the way you feel about me."

"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph," her father said gently. "It made me realize something."

"It has?" Toph's voice was hopeful. Aang felt hopeful, too.

"Yes. I've let you have far too much freedom!" Aang felt his mouth drop as he stared at the man. He couldn't be serious! After Toph's display in the Earth Rumble stadium, how could he still want to treat her like she was helpless? "From now on, you will be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day!"  
"But Dad!" Toph protested.

"We're doing this for your own good, Toph," her mother added in. _They really don't understand her at all, do they?_

"Please escort the Avatar and his friend out," her father ordered his servants. "They are no longer welcome here." Aang felt his face fall with disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Toph," he said as he walked by. He looked at her as he was walked out. Would this be the last time he saw her? They had only just met…

"I'm sorry, too," she said. "Goodbye, Aang." He had never heard her sound so sad.

* * *

How could he do this to her?

Toph rarely ever cried, but several tears came down her cheeks as Toph sat alone in her room. All her life, she had been treated as fragile, breakable. But she _wasn't_. She could take care of herself, better than most people who could see normally. And she was so sick of being kept in a cage. And it was a cage, a prison; only superficially better than the metal box Xin Fu had imprisoned her and Aang in. She was so tired of pretending to be someone she wasn't, of having her life completely controlled. Of being alone.

Aang.

He was her first friend. He actually respected her, understood her. He didn't take a look at her eyes and treat her like glass.

He had offered her freedom.

Toph stood up.

_Aang needs an earthbending teacher, and I'm it._

So what if her parents didn't approve? So what if she had to run away? She had plenty of experience with that—she had just always returned. But not this time—she was done being held prisoner by her own parents!

And she was done being lonely, done being the girl no one knew existed, hanging out alone in the garden! She was done with the Earth Rumble and those mediocre dunderheads. Aang was her way out, but he was also her friend, her _first_ actual friend, and she was not going to let her parents take that away from her.

* * *

"There's plenty of other earthbenders," Sokka pointed out as he and Aang prepared to leave Gaoling on Appa. "I'm sure you can find someone else to teach you."

"But it was supposed to be her," Aang insisted sadly. "Everything led me to her." He shook his head. "And I doubt we'll ever meet another earthbender like her." And she was actually sort of fun to be around. But Aang got up on Appa.

And then she came running up.

"Toph! What are you doing here?"

"My dad changed his mind," she said, smiling. "He said I was free to travel the world." Aang hesitated for a moment—that didn't sound like her father. Not even a little bit, from what Aang had seen from him.

Aang also knew a thing or two about running away from home.

"Well," Sokka said, and Aang knew he had also figured out Toph's lie. "We'd better get outta here. Before your dad changes his mind again."

"Good idea," Toph agreed.

"You'll be a great earthbending teacher, Toph!" Aang told her.

"Speaking of which," she said, mischief in her voice. "I'm going to show you something." He leapt down.

"Okay!" He was immediately launched into a tree.

"Now, we're even. I'll take the belt back," she said to Sokka, putting her hand out. Aang heard a light thud. "Ow!"

"Sorry," Sokka said. Aang fell out of the tree, quickly observing Toph pick up the belt from the ground. He quickly floated up, hopping on to Appa.

He offered his hand to Toph, which she took, and pulled her onto the saddle.

She walked slowly on Appa, sitting in the front of the saddle. She seemed a little unsteady.

"You okay?" Aang asked as he took Appa's reins.

"I can't really see up here," she told him. She frowned. "I guess it's just something I'll have to get used to."

"Right. I didn't think of that. Sorry." He hoped it wouldn't be too uncomfortable for her.

"Hey. It's certainly better than being a prisoner in my own house." Aang brought Appa up in the air. "Whoa. This is definitely a new feeling. Urgh."

"You feeling sick?"

"I'll get used to it," she insisted. "It's worth it."

Aang smiled, though he knew she couldn't see it. "I'm glad to have you, Toph."

* * *

When Toph woke up, later, she knew they were still flying. It was an interesting feeling, and not entirely in a good way. It sort of made her feel a little sick. According to Sokka, it was a fairly normal thing to people new to flying. The fact that she also couldn't see her surroundings with her earthbending probably added to it.

But parts of it were nice, though. She found she kind of liked the feeling of her bangs being blown around, wind in her face. It was practically the definition of freedom.

"You awake?" she heard Aang ask.

She just asked, "What time is it?"

"Noon," he told her. "Did you get enough sleep? We were all up pretty late."

She shrugged. "Night and day don't exactly mean much to me," she pointed out. "I go to sleep when my parents tell me, or just when I'm tired." A thought occurred to her. "You haven't been up the whole time, have you?" Somehow, she found it hard to imagine Twinkletoes staying up all night.

"Sokka and I took turns," Aang said. "I've been teaching him to fly Appa."

"That's the name of your sky bison?" It was a strange creature, one she had never encountered before. Like the Air Nomads themselves, she had been taught that their giant companions were extinct. She had felt Appa as a great, six-legged creature with a long, wide tail. And lots of fur.

"Yeah. I've had him since I was just a little kid. We've been through it all together." Toph smiled as he spoke. "He's all I have left of my old life," Aang said sadly.

"I've heard rumors," Toph said, thinking of what she knew. Aside from what she'd been taught in her history lessons, she only had a few rumors that had begun circulating in Gaoling recently. "I heard you disappeared for a century, and then suddenly showed up a few months ago. What's the deal with that?" How does somebody just disappear, and then reappear a hundred years later?

"I kinda got stuck in an iceberg," Aang admitted. "I was in there for a hundred years, along with Appa. And then Katara found me a few months ago."

It was silent for a moment as Toph considered what Aang said.

"Who's Katara?" It was silent again, and Toph could feel that this one was tenser than the last silence. Finally, Aang answered her.

"Katara was Sokka's sister." Toph frowned as she considered this. Was. Katara _was_ Sokka's sister.

"What happened to her?" Toph asked.

"She died," Aang said. Toph could hear the sadness in his voice. "At the North Pole, the Fire Nation attacked. The waterbenders created a wave to push them out…Katara was caught in it, too. Sokka and I looked for her…but we could never find her."

"Oh." It occurred to Toph that she was different from the boys in a way she hadn't previously considered. She didn't know loss. Not like that. She had grown up overly sheltered. The only death she had experienced in her lifetime was her grandfather's, and she had been too young to remember him on any emotional level.

Obviously, it was a very different situation for Aang and Sokka. This Katara had been Sokka's sister, and had probably been one of Aang's only friends in this time.

"I'm sorry," she told Aang. She wasn't sure what else to say.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "I don't mean to scare you or anything, but you do know it's dangerous out here, right? I mean, seriously, everywhere I go something happens. The Fire Nation is always after me, and if you're with me, you'll be a target, too. I know you can handle yourself, I just need to know you understand that this is dangerous. This isn't just a vacation."

"Great," Toph responded. "I told you, I enjoy fighting. And besides," she added. "It sounds like someone needs to teach those firebenders a lesson." The war had always seemed so far away to her. The same was not the case for her new friends.

"Okay then," Aang said. Toph didn't need to be able to see to know he was probably smiling. "It'll be nice having a third person on the team again."

"What was Katara like?" Toph was sort of curious. Who was the girl that was lost?

"She was…she was amazing. She was a waterbender, the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. She had nobody to teach her, so she wasn't very good at it when I first met her. But she got better." Aang laughed. "There was this time, once, where she stole a waterbending scroll from some pirates."

"Really?" Toph smiled. She approved.

"Once she had that, she was totally dedicated to practicing. By the time was reached the North Pole, she had actually gotten pretty good. And then she got a master, after she dueled him…"

Toph was full on grinning now. "She dueled her master?"

"He refused to teach her because she was a girl," Aang explained. "So she smacked him in the head with a water whip and dueled him." Toph laughed.

"I'm sorry I never got the chance to meet her," Toph said. "She sounds pretty incredible."

"She was," Aang agreed. The two of them were quiet for a moment. "Hey, would you like to hear about how we met King Bumi a few months back?"

Toph raised an eyebrow. Then she shrugged. "Why not?"

"Well," Aang began. "It all started when I took Sokka and Katara there to ride the mail delivery system."

"Ride the mail delivery system?!"

"Yeah! It's a lot of fun actually. Anyways, we rode the mail system, but also damaged a ton of buildings and stuff, so we were arrested and taken to the king. Instead of punishing us, he threw us a feast…"

It was nice having friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit on the canon-rehash side. I hope it didn't bore anyone as a result. Honestly, this fic ranges from "Almost the same as canon" to "Totally different" and then has some of everything in between. I tried to liven it up a bit with exploring Toph's POV of her meeting with (part of) the GAang. Also, this fic will eventually have TAang in it, too, so I wanted to explore their first encounter.  
> Anyways, I hope it was still enjoyable. Next chapter is back to focusing on Zutara, promise.


	15. Part 2 Chapter 7: Understanding

Katara and Iroh followed the tracks left by the ostrich-horse. They went slow, allowing Zuko to remain ahead of them. He wouldn't appreciate them following him, Iroh reasoned. Zuko felt that he needed to find his path alone, and could view them following him as shameful, believing he didn't need help.

"We'll intervene only if we need to," Iroh had decided. "But I do think he may benefit from his time alone. It is his path."

"I just hope he doesn't get into trouble," Katara said, then she shook her head. "Not too much trouble, anyways. Knowing Zuko, _something_ will happen."

So, they followed him, perhaps a day or half of a day behind him. Close enough that they could quickly catch up and help him if the need arose, but far enough that he didn't notice them.

Katara had spent a considerable amount of time with the two Fire Nation royals trying to ignore Zuko. But now, with him gone, she felt his absence. Arguing with him, of course, wasn't that great, but when they could get along, she found that they had gone pretty well together. They worked well together, when they needed to.

And Iroh clearly missed his nephew. He remained as calm as ever, and he did his best to reassure her, too, but she noticed the slight tension in his forehead, the tightness of his lips. He had, after all, lost his son before. While he was willing to let Zuko go, Katara knew that Iroh was also concerned about the many things which could go wrong, the many ways that he could now lose Zuko.

On their second day tracking Zuko, Katara decided that the anxious silence would drive them both crazy. As a distraction, she shared some of her adventures with Aang and Sokka. She told him about the time they met the Kyoshi Warriors, how the leader, Suki, had made Sokka wear the dress and makeup to learn from them. She talked about how King Bumi had made Aang go through several bizarre challenges, only to reveal that he was actually Aang's friend from a century before, and hadn't really intended to hurt her or Sokka anyways. She also told him about her experience with Master Pakku.

"He refused to teach me," she said, and even though he had later changed his mind, her voice was still tinged with frustration as she recounted the experience. "Just because I'm a girl. And then when Aang tried to teach me, he caught us, and then he refused to teach Aang, too!" She was frowning.

"He refused to teach the Avatar?" Iroh sounded surprised, and when Katara looked over, she saw that he looked slightly exasperated, shaking his head. "He should understand that the fate of the world depends on the Avatar mastering the elements. What was he thinking?"

"Tradition," Katara answered, irritation coloring her tone. "Apparently, the Northern Water Tribe is just flat-out sexist. And they had no interest in changing." She shook her head, then gave a small smirk. "I challenged him to a duel."

Iroh raised an eyebrow. "You challenged one of the greatest waterbending masters in the world to a duel?" He sounded both amused and impressed. He shook his head, smiling. "I told you before, you and Zuko are more similar than you realize."

Katara gave a small smile. "I didn't win," she told him. "But he did acknowledge that I'm a pretty good waterbender."

"So how did you convince him to train you?"

"My necklace. It's been passed down my family, but originally, it was my grandmother's. She was from the North Pole." Absently, she touched the stone of the necklace.

"Ah," Iroh nodded, understanding. "An engagement tradition of the Northern Water Tribe. But, she didn't marry her fiancé?"

"Nope. See, it was actually Master Pakku himself she was supposed to marry. But it was an arranged marriage."

"And she went to the Southern Water Tribe to escape it."

Katara nodded. "My necklace fell off during the duel. Pakku picked it up, and recognized it as the one he had made for Gran-Gran. I guess he finally realized what those stupid traditions had cost him, and he reconsidered." She smiled. "He said that I was one of the best students I ever had. And, since I was trained, I heard that they were thinking of going ahead and abolishing the restriction on girls learning actual waterbending." She was grinning. It was definitely something she was proud of.

"I'm glad you were able to convince him to train you," Iroh said. "It would have been a huge waste of talent if you hadn't been trained." He frowned. "The Fire Nation also used to have similar traditions. And while I'm reluctant to credit this war with anything good, I suppose it did result in our women gaining more power than they once had. With the men gone, the women of the Fire Nation have taken over many duties at home. They gained influence, and asserted their equality. Nowadays, women are viewed as men's equals. They're even recruited into our military, and can hold rank just as the men can."

Katara blinked. "Wow, never thought I'd actually prefer the Fire Nation's way of doing anything," she said. "My tribe is better with women than the north, but even our women don't usually go to fight with our men." There wasn't anything saying they couldn't, Katara supposed. But women weren't generally taught to fight, or asked to come along when the men went out to fight.

Iroh frowned. "From what I remember, your tribe is quite small. It seems to me that if any more of your people went to war, your tribe wouldn't have anyone in it." He shook his head. "Some people must remain behind, to keep life going. To survive, and rebuild."

Katara frowned too. "I suppose," she admitted. "But I guess I just want to do my part to end this war. My father left a few years ago, leaving my brother and I to take care of the tribe." She shook her head. "I just don't think it's in my nature to hide out while the people I love are fighting."

"An understandable position," Iroh agreed. "But I worry about what this war is doing. While the equality granted to my nation's women is well-deserved, consider the consequences of sending so much of our population to war. Already, we have noticed that women outnumber the men in substantial numbers. Such was what motivated my father to allow women to go to fight with the men to begin with. My brother," Iroh continued, and Katara frowned at the mention of Firelord Ozai. "My brother has begun conscripting men, forcing them to fight. This practice mostly targets the poor men of our society. These men are sent to die at the frontlines, rarely able to rise through the ranks before meeting an untimely end. Within the past year, I have heard talk of conscripting women, too."

Katara blinked. "So…what? He's just going to send everyone to fight?"

"As many as possible, within a certain age." Iroh shook his head. "He will cripple an entire generation. If he continues this for much longer, I fear he will burn the world down, and destroy our own nation in the process."

Katara frowned.

It wasn't the first time Iroh had shown disapproval for his nation and his brother's actions. And, she realized, he was kinder to her than any enemy ought to be, from the beginning. She recalled Azula, how she had derided her as an 'inferior being.' But Iroh seemed to hold no such attitudes. He didn't seem to believe that the Fire Nation was superior. In fact, he even seemed to agree that this war needed to end. Katara recalled how, once, Iroh had talked about how elements worked together to sustain life.

It occurred to her for the first time that Iroh may be much more than he appeared to be.

* * *

A couple days later, Katara was laughing as Iroh sang The Girls from Ba Sing Se. She shook her head; it was a mixture of sweet and obnoxious, but Iroh clearly enjoyed singing it. He had been telling her about the Fire Nation again, and he had taken to singing some of the songs he knew. Most were from the Fire Nation, but others were ones he had encountered at various places in the world. He really had been around in the world, Katara noted.

As he finished singing, he took the tin tea kettle out from over the fire. Taking one of the cups, he put it in front of Katara and poured her some tea, before taking another cup and pouring some for himself.

"Thanks, Uncle Iroh," Katara said without thinking. Iroh was quiet for a moment, and Katara realized what she said. "Oh, I mean…sorry, I guess."

"It's fine," he reassured her. He smiled, and she smiled back.

"You've just been very easy to talk to," she admitted. "And I suppose it's been a while since I've really had an adult in my life who actually guides me in any way." Iroh had come to share a place with Gran-Gran and Master Pakku.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, and I assure you, I don't mind. Family, after all, is more than blood ties."

Katara nodded. After all, she had sworn to Aang that she and Sokka would be his family. And he really was like a little brother to her. And Master Pakku, in the weeks she had known him, had been much like she figured a grandfather would be. Katara smiled as she sipped her tea. Now, Iroh had joined the family—the honorary uncle, who happened to be Fire Nation.

* * *

The next day, he told her about his son, Lu Ten. Katara listened as he spoke of his dead son. He sounded like he had been a good person, even if he was loyal to the Fire Nation. She couldn't help but smile as Iroh talked about how much Lu Ten adored his cousins, treating them more like siblings than cousins. "Some days it would be impossible to pull him away from them," Iroh had told her. Iroh took a more somber note when he mentioned how he had decided to take Lu Ten with him when he went to conquer Ba Sing Se.

Katara quickly changed topics, telling him more about her adventures with Aang and Sokka. Iroh's smile returned as she spoke.

"I do have to ask," he said. "How did you find Aang? The Avatar has been missing for an entire century. How did you come to find him after all that time?"

"It's a bit of an embarrassing story, actually," she admitted. "My brother and I were out fishing. Our canoe got caught up in a strong current, and it pulled us through a lot of smaller chunks of ice. After a few minutes, we got stuck on one, and our canoe was crushed. We started arguing…" She blushed as she recalled the event. "Heh. See, my brother always left me to do all of the chores, and I kind of snapped. I got really mad at him, and I accidentally started waterbending while I yelled at him. I split open an iceberg. As it turned out Aang's iceberg was inside that one. I noticed it glowing, and I saw his figure, so I took Sokka's club and opened it. The rest is history."

Iroh's eyes were raised. "Who would have ever thought that the world would be saved by a pair of teenagers squabbling?"

Katara laughed a moment before frowning.

"Do you really support this war at all? I mean, maybe I'm just imagining it, but you don't seem to approve of _anything_ your brother does. And you talk about how bad this war is for everyone. And you basically just said that Aang will save the world!" Katara blinked. "So…seriously? Are you…on our side?" Was it really possible, or was her attachment to him making her imagine things?

Iroh waited a moment before sighing. "I was raised, like my brother and his children, to continue Sozin's vision for the world. And for much of my life, I was proud to 'spread the Fire Nation's greatness.'" He shook his head as he said those last words. "It was only when I lost Lu Ten that I realized what we were really doing. We were not spreading greatness, not helping as Sozin and my father claimed we were. No, we were only spreading destruction and death, and I had no desire to be a part of that. We were only killing other people's sons, just as my son had been killed. I called off the siege of Ba Sing Se, and had my men return to the Fire Nation. I had wondered if I could have convinced my father to end the war…"

"But he was dead," Katara recalled. "And Ozai was crowned Firelord."

"Yes," Iroh said grimly. "And he had little interest in what I had to say."

"Couldn't you have challenged him or anything?" Katara asked. The world would have been so much better off, she was certain now, if Iroh had become Firelord.

"I could have," Iroh acknowledged. "And there was a window of opportunity for me to do so. After all, more than a few people questioned Ozai's ascendance to the throne. It was too sudden, and it left much suspicion in the air. If I had wanted to, I could have challenged him. And I had other nobles who would have supported my claim, and even members of the military willing to fight for me if it came to a civil war." Iroh shook his head. "But I had no interest in the crown anymore, and no will left to fight for it."

"But you knew the war was wrong," Katara said. "You could have ended it."

"Perhaps I could have. But I was lost, broken at that time. I lost my son, to a war I suddenly understood shouldn't have been started, I lost my father, I lost my crown, I lost much respect as a general after pulling my men out of Ba Sing Se. I understood that the war was wrong, that I had been wrong to support it, but I did not know where to turn to instead. So I left."

Katara blinked. "You left? What do you mean?"

"I went on a journey of discovery, to find myself again, to find answers. To understand the world as it truly was, and how to fix it. To learn what my true destiny was. I even traveled to the Spirit World."

Katara's eyes widened. "I thought only the Avatar could travel between worlds." She thought of the time Hei bai had taken Sokka to the Spirit World. That time, at least, it had been a matter of being abducted by a spirit. But she hadn't realized that somebody could willingly go there.

"From my understanding, in a time long before any records being kept, the Spirit World and our world were one. At some point, they were separated, and the Avatar became the bridge between our worlds. But there are still ways for normal mortals to travel to the Spirit World, if they are willing to dedicate much time and patience to finding those ways."

"Wow." Katara's voice was awed. "That's amazing." She blinked. "Why were our worlds separated?"

Iroh shrugged. "I don't know everything," he told her. "All of this was thousands of years ago; any record which may have been kept is probably unreadable now. This is only what I've put together from what I learned while trying to get to the Spirit World, and what I heard there."

"So…after you went to the Spirit World, then what?"

"I learned," Iroh said plainly. "And I finally understood. I saw how our world was out of balance, how it would remain out of balance so long as the Fire Nation continues to attempt domination. I sought out others, other individuals who saw the problem of the world. I returned to the Fire Nation." Iroh frowned.

"And you still didn't want the crown?"

Iroh shook his head. "Even if I wanted it, my opportunity had passed. Ozai had solidified his grip on the throne. Things were even worse than when I left…I found that many of my colleagues were gone. Generals who loved their men, dead. Admirals who followed a code of honor, suddenly lost at sea. Other advisors, missing. The same occurred to virtually all of the nobles who had offered to support me if I challenged Ozai."

Katara's eyes widened and she suppressed a shiver. "He purged them," she realized. "He purged the Fire Nation of anyone who opposed him and had the power to do anything."

Iroh nodded. "I could hardly ask him if it were the case, but it does seem the most likely explanation to me. Still, I wasn't powerless. I understood that it wasn't the time. But, I knew where the future of the nation lied." He paused for a moment before a fond smile formed. "As you know, Ozai was no better a father than he is a Firelord."

"You took over raising his children."

"Tried," Iroh amended. "Azula had little interest in spending time with me, and I fear her father's influence had already grown too much. She had dismissed me as weak after I abandoned the siege of Ba Sing Se. Zuko, though, he was more open to a positive influence. And he has become like a son to me." Iroh smiled momentarily before shaking his head. "I have done my best to guide him over the past three years. Lead him to understand his part in this…I believe that it is his destiny to help the Avatar restore balance to the world."

Katara's eyes widened at the declaration. "You really think he will?" He had said before that he thought Zuko's destiny, along with hers, was tied to the Avatar. She looked down to her feet as she walked. "I hope you're right. I don't want to fight him anymore." She furrowed her eyebrows. "He's so stubborn, though. And clueless sometimes. What if he doesn't ever see the truth?"

"Then I believe we would have a rather large problem," Iroh admitted. "But I have seen the good inside of him, and so have you. And now, I believe our new situation may force him to confront the true nature of this war. When the time comes, I believe that Zuko will make the right choice."

* * *

"When we meet up with Aang again," Katara brought up a few days later as they walked. "Do you think you could be his firebending master?" Hopefully, Aang would have found an earthbending master. Bumi might not be…available, given what happened to Omashu, but surely Aang would have been able to find _someone_ else to teach him.

"Hmm," Iroh considered. "Perhaps, if that is where destiny leads us. I don't know that I am meant to be the one to teach him, but if that responsibility falls to me, then I would do my best."

"I can just imagine Aang and Zuko training together," Katara said, laughing a little. "I think Aang would drive him even crazier as a friend than he does as an enemy." After all, Aang, despite the huge responsibility on his shoulders, was still very much a child. He liked to play around, and joke, and sometimes didn't take things as seriously as he should.

Zuko, on the other hand, was always serious. He didn't joke, or goof around. Katara actually couldn't help but appreciate it a bit. After years of fulfilling the motherly role, and frequently being the one to remind Aang and Sokka to do their parts, it was nice to have someone else who was a bit more thoughtful about their life and responsibilities.

She really did miss him.

* * *

In another two days, Katara followed Iroh as he observed the tracks. He hesitated as he looked onwards, and Katara came to stand next to him.

"Is something wrong?"

Iroh frowned. "He's left the wooded area," he told her. He pointed forward, and Katara looked. It wasn't a very nice looking place, with a lot of sand and rock and large hills. There was little vegetation, and it didn't look like there was much water to be found. The sky was nearly cloudless in that direction, the sun shining almost too bright for Katara to even look near. "I worry that this may not be a safe direction. If the environment continues like it is here, food and water will not be plentiful."

Katara's eyes widened. "Do you think he'll be okay? Maybe we should go catch up to him now…"

But Iroh shook his head. "Not until we are absolutely certain he needs us."

Katara folded her arms, but went with Iroh.

She hoped Zuko would be okay.

* * *

The new terrain was far less pleasant than the previous area of the Earth Kingdom they had been traveling in. Much of the area Katara had traveled through before was fairly nice, with a decent amount of grass, and trees, and usually a fairly good amount of water nearby. Food was accessible, along with water. And there was usually a village or two close enough for anyone to find if they needed help.

But this place that Zuko had wandered into was different. It was arid, and devoid of life. Iroh and Katara found that they were running out of the food they had brought, and it was also difficult to find water. Katara found herself recalling how she and Iroh purified water on the raft, and recalled how it had been said that there was water in the air. At one point, while she and Iroh were resting, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to see if she could feel any water…there was, she felt, and she tried to bend it out of the air. It really was abysmally little, and after spending an hour to bend a mouthful of water into their water pouch, she gave up. All that effort for so little? It was hardly worth it, except in an emergency.

Maybe if they were on the brink of dying of dehydration, but otherwise…

_What is Zuko thinking? This place is a death trap!_

* * *

In another couple of days, she noticed that Iroh looked even more concerned than ever.

"From what I can tell," he told Katara. "Zuko hasn't been setting any campfires up. At least for the past couple days."

"What does that mean?" she asked. "He can warm himself with his breath of fire, can't he?" It was hot during the day, even more so due to the lack of shade, but during the night it could get fairly cool.

"Heat is not a problem," Iroh agreed. "But what else do you use fire for?"

Katara frowned as she thought for a moment. "Cooking. Zuko isn't cooking anything." Her eyebrows pulled in as she put together what it was Iroh was worried about. "You think he's run out of food."

He nodded. "I don't know how much food he took to begin with," he told her. "And I don't know how much money he has with him, either. Not to mention, this place isn't exactly overflowing with things he could eat."

"If he's run out of food, he's probably also run out of water by now." Katara glared at the water pouch she and Iroh had been using. "This place is basically a desert. There's nothing out here." She looked up at Iroh. "Now can we intervene?"

Iroh frowned. "Right now I'm not sure we could even help him," he admitted. "We're running out of food as well. And water."

Katara frowned. "I can bend more water," she told him. His eyes widened.

"From the air itself?" He sounded impressed. She nodded.

"Only a little bit," she admitted. "This place is so dry…but something is an improvement over nothing, right?"

"And if he really has run out of food," Iroh agreed. "Then even what we've got left should be helpful."

They continued following the track left by the ostrich-horse, but now they walked a little faster, and a little longer than they had in previous days.

* * *

"He pushes himself," Iroh told her. "Ever since he was little, he wanted to show that he could be a great firebender, a great swordsman. Not always for the right reasons," Iroh admitted. "He wants to prove himself to his father." Iroh frowned. "Ozai should have loved him, but he did not. He denied his son his affection."

"He prefers Azula," Katara figured.

"My brother appreciates that she is useful to him, nothing more. He sees her as his weapon. Does he love her?" Iroh looked thoughtful. "To be honest, I doubt it. But perhaps I just can't see him loving any family member after what he did to Zuko."

Katara glared into the ground. "He's a monster," she muttered. She looked to Iroh. "You're more of a father to Zuko than Ozai. I hope he realizes that someday."

Iroh smiled. "Ozai and I never really had a close relationship," Iroh noted. "Even when I was younger, and followed in my father's footsteps, somehow Ozai and I never particularly cared for each other. Perhaps in part because of our age difference. I was old enough to be his father, so I suppose we didn't really ever get the chance to grow up together. While he was young and growing, I was busy starting my own family, as well as my career in the military. When I did try to bond with him, we never did succeed. We may as well have been strangers, speaking different languages for all that we really understood each other. Later, when I did spend time with his family, I actually spent more time with his wife and children than I did with him," Iroh admitted. "He had little interest in spending time with them. Until they started firebending."

"And since Azula's a prodigy, she took center stage." Katara frowned as she recalled her conversation with Zuko. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course," Iroh said, looking concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"A few weeks back, Zuko and I talked to each other. About bending, I mean. He said he feels like…like there's a wall, or something. Like he just can't firebend like he should." Katara frowned, unsure if she was explaining it properly. "Do you understand what I mean?"

"I do," Iroh told her.

"Have you ever heard of anything like this?" Katara asked him.

"I have," he confirmed. "What Zuko is experiencing is a failure to spiritually connect to his element."

Katara frowned. "How so?"

"Consider this: fire is unique among the elements in that we create it. In order to create our fire, we pull energy from within our own chi, and channel it using our passion, our drives." Iroh fingered his beard. "Over the past century or so, it has become the norm to use emotions such as frustration, anger, and hatred to produce our fire." Iroh shook his head. "Perhaps it isn't surprising that our nation has fallen to madness and ruin, that our nation has gone on a rampage of conquest and destruction."

Katara frowned. "No kidding. I mean, that just can't be good."

"This is how people in my nation are taught to bend nowadays," Iroh said sadly. "And it is also how Zuko was taught to bend."

"But it doesn't work for him," Katara concluded. "But he is really angry a lot. And frustrated. I wouldn't think it would be such a problem for his bending…"

"As angry as my nephew is, he lacks the ruthlessness required to follow through," Iroh explained. "Consider what happened with Zhao. He fought him, and Zuko was winning. But, when it all came down to it, when Zhao was taken by La, Zuko still tried to save him."

Katara nodded slowly. "It's not really in his nature to be cruel and hateful. He cares about people…so I guess that makes sense." She frowned. "There's another way to firebend, then? I mean, I'm guessing you don't use this method."

"There is another way," Iroh said. "I learned it when I was younger. And I've tried to slip some of its teachings in to Zuko. But the lesson, ultimately, needs to be taught by the Old Masters."

"The Old Masters?" Katara questioned.

Iroh nodded. "The lesson they have to teach is not one I could give. Zuko will have to go to them himself. And it is not yet the time for that," he concluded.

"But he's ashamed of not firebending as well as he should be able to."

"He's not ready," Iroh continued. "Not yet. But perhaps he will be soon enough. And we will all know when he is."

* * *

"These tracks are definitely more recently made," Iroh observed. "Perhaps a matter of hours old." He looked over to Katara. "If we wish, we could probably catch up to him by tomorrow."

"Well, we do want to catch up to him, don't we?" When Iroh hesitated, Katara nearly exploded. "Are you kidding me? He's alone out there, starving! Hasn't his little adventure gone far enough?!"

"I have done my best to guide him," Iroh said. "But right now he has to find his own way. If I intervene now, he may not be grateful."

"But if he's starving," Katara protested.

Iroh quickly shook his head. "You know how stubborn he can be, even to his own detriment. If I break his trust now, how can he know that he could trust me in the future?"

Katara frowned. She folded her arms.

She never thought she would miss Zuko this much, but she found that she did. They had bonded, admittedly. From being on the raft, to traveling the Earth Kingdom. She had come to understand that he wasn't what she had thought he was. He wasn't evil. He was actually an essentially good person, if somewhat confused about what was actually right or wrong. He was a teenager, desperate to earn his cruel father's approval. And she also couldn't help but hope that, someday, he would see past his father's vision of the world. That someday, maybe, they could fight on the same side. Iroh believed it was possible. And Katara found that she believed it, too. As Iroh had noted, she and Zuko were not as different as she had once believed. They were stubborn, passionate, and driven. They both refused to back down. They had made some of the same mistakes in the past. Katara thought of her compromise with him, how they had worked together for a day. It hadn't gone like she thought it would, of course, but they had worked well for that day. And he had bought her a hair tie, a peace offering as he saw it. A small gesture, but Katara appreciated the sentiment behind it.

"Then I'll go ahead without you," she told Iroh quietly. He looked momentarily surprised, so she quickly explained. "I'm sorry, but I can't wait anymore when I know he's in trouble. And maybe he won't be as upset if it's me. I mean any more than usual. It wouldn't be the first time we fought. And at least he wouldn't be mad at you. But I can't stand not knowing," she continued, shaking her head. "I care about him, and this…it's gone too far."

Iroh slowly nodded, smiling. "You know, I do think perhaps he wouldn't be as upset if it were you. If it were me, he could just see it as me trying to control his life. But you? I believe he has come to view you as an equal." He frowned. "You would be alone for a while," he pointed out as he separated their things. He gave her a small sack of food that they had left, keeping one for himself. "It won't be pleasant," he warned. "We have little food left. And water…"

"I can handle it," Katara assured him. She offered a smile. "I promise, I'll be careful."

They continued walking for the rest of the day, until night. Iroh made camp, and Katara took what little she had. Finally, she left.

"Good luck to you, Katara. Find Zuko, and be careful."

"I'll see you again," she promised. "And I promise I'll have Zuko with me. Bye, Uncle Iroh."

* * *

It was dusk the next day when Katara found a small village. The tracks had led there. It was an old looking town, with dusty streets, and small, plain buildings. The town seemed empty.

Except for the fight in the streets.

Zuko was fighting an earthbender. By the looks of it, the earthbender was in the Earth Kingdom army. He was hurling large stones at Zuko, who was fighting with his swords. Katara had never actually seen him using those, she noted, but he looked to be pretty good from what she was seeing. And it wasn't even a fair fight, considering that he also didn't seem to be in the best condition. Katara smiled as she heard townsfolk cheering Zuko on.

"What's going on?" she asked one of the locals.

He turned to her, blinking in surprise. "Another stranger? This must be a record." He turned back to the fight. "Those soldiers have been bullying us ever since they came," the man said. "They were going to force that kid," pointing to a young boy tied up in the middle of the street. "To go fight in the war. But then this guy came! He's actually standing up to them!" Katara grinned as she heard the story. She had heard of some of Zuko's more heroic moments before. Fighting Zhao, standing up to the general in the war-room, rescuing her. But this was the first time she was present and conscious for any of them.

The moment turned sour, however, after the earthbender successfully hit Zuko from the ground. It hit him hard in the stomach, and threw him back. Several long moments passed, and he didn't get up.

Katara's eyes widened. "No!" She moved forward, but several of the villagers pulled her back.

"They'll go after you, too!" she heard one saying to her.

"I don't care!" she whisper-shouted at them. She saw the earthbender walking towards Zuko, taking out his hammers. "Hey! Get away from him!" She wrested herself out of the villagers grasp, moving forward. The soldier turned back to face her.

"Run back home, little girl," he smirked at her. She wished she had more water. She really wanted to smack that smirk off of his face.

All at once, Zuko came back to consciousness, and he spun his swords around, releasing a swirl of fire, blasting the earthbender away.

Katara winced. Even if that jerk deserved it, Katara doubted this was going to turn out well.

Zuko blasted the earthbender again, knocking him into the side of a building.

"Who…who are you?" he asked Zuko. _Please, please don't answer that, Zuko._

"My name is Zuko," he declared, and Katara pinched the bridge of her nose. "Son of Ursa and Firelord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne!" Whispers erupted among the villagers, and Katara shook her head.

She could only hope they wouldn't respond too badly…

"Liar!" one villager called out. "I've heard of you! You're not a prince, you're an outcast! His own father burned and disowned him!"

It was even worse than Katara had thought. She thought of how Zuko had gotten his scar, and she was filled with fury. "Who're you to judge him?!" she shouted at the villager. "He _just_ helped you people! And now you're just going to turn on him because of his parentage?!"

"It's his father's fault those soldiers were here to begin with! It's his people's fault we've lost our loved ones!"

"Yeah!"

"He's their prince!"

"We shouldn't let him leave!"

"Give him to the Earth King!"

"Traitor!"

"How can you defend him!?"

Katara's eyes widened as people began shouting. Most were directed at Zuko, but a few were also directed at her. She shook her head, eyes tearing up slightly.

"Just because he's Fire Nation, doesn't mean he's evil!" she shouted. "How can there ever be peace in the world if we all hate each other based on the nation we're from?"

"Katara," Zuko's voice interrupted her tirade. Katara looked over her shoulder to see Zuko standing behind her.

"Zuko," she turned around. He didn't look good. Now that she was close to him, she could see that he seemed thinner than before, and he also looked completely worn out.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. Obviously."

He didn't respond, looking over to where the boy that had been tied up was with his mother. Katara noticed the mother glaring at Zuko.

Zuko walked to the ostrich-horse, getting up. He walked the ostrich-horse to Katara, offering her his hand to help her up. She took it, getting up on the ostrich-horse with him. She leant against him, slightly.

"Traitor!" another villager yelled. "How can you choose the prince of your people's enemies?!"

" _Zuko_ is not my enemy!" she fired back.

"Ignore them," Zuko said quietly. "It…doesn't matter."

Katara frowned, but she didn't say anything else as they left the village. With the townspeople glaring at both of them, they rode into the sunset.

* * *

It was nighttime when they stopped and got off of the ostrich-horse. It had gotten fairly cool out again, as it tended to during the night. Zuko got off first and then wordlessly helped Katara down.

"Do you want a fire?" he asked quietly.

She shrugged. "I grew up in the South Pole, remember? This is almost warm to me." She sat down on the ground, near Zuko. "If you want a fire, though, go ahead and make one." Zuko just sat down across from Katara. He was quiet. It was actually the first time he had spoken since they had left the village. Katara hadn't pushed him, but she could tell he was troubled. "Zuko, about what happened in the village…"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But maybe you should talk about it," she suggested. "Sometimes, keeping things bottled up inside just makes them explode later." She frowned. "I know we aren't exactly best friends or anything, and half the time we can't even get along, but…I've come to care about you. You can talk to me."

He was silent for a moment, and Katara thought that he wasn't going to talk to her. Then, quietly, "The people of that village hated me because I'm Fire Nation."

"They did," Katara agreed. "And because you're the son of the Firelord, at that."

"Do you hate me?"

"I…used to." Katara considered her words. Zuko was clearly upset over the experience. She didn't want to make him feel worse. "Back before I knew you, I hated you. You were the prince of the Fire Nation, practically a personification of everything that went wrong in my life. Everything wrong with the world. And to top it all off, you were also chasing my friend around the world. And you tied me to a tree," she added.

Zuko blinked. "Right…did I ever apologize for that?"

"No."

"Oh…well, sorry."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Anyways, I did used to hate you. But then, I actually met you. And got to know you. And I've come to understand that you're more than just an enemy. You're a person, and a good person at that." Katara offered a smile. "I told you I care about you, and I do, Zuko. I don't hate you anymore."

Zuko looked to her, and in the dim light of the moon, Katara thought he seemed a bit relieved. But then he looked to the ground. "Those villagers clearly disagree. Even after I tried to help them. And the boy, Lee…we only knew each other for a day, but I thought we had bonded a bit. But the moment they knew who I really was, they hated me. They even hated you for defending me!"

"Zuko." Katara moved, resituating herself so that she was sitting on her feet right in front of Zuko. His face was close, and even in the dark, she could clearly see his eyes. "They don't know you. Not like I know you. They look at you, and all they see is the prince of the nation that has caused them so much pain. They don't understand that you are a good person, regardless of where you came from." She frowned. "It wasn't right of them to turn against you like that."

"Does everybody hate the Fire Nation?" Zuko asked her. "I never realized that people of other nations hated my people so much…"

"This war has unleashed so much havoc in this world," Katara told him. "The Air Nomads were completely wiped out. My tribe has been nearly so. And the Earth Kingdom has lost many people to this war. I hate to say it, but this village's view probably isn't a rare one." _In fact_ , Katara thought, _a lot of people probably have it. I used to._ For a moment, Katara's mind wandered a couple months back, to when she, Sokka, and Aang had met Jet. Jet went too far in his hatred of the Fire Nation, but there were probably a lot of people who still hated everyone from the Fire Nation, regardless of who they were. "I lost my mother to this war," Katara said sadly.

Zuko was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "I lost my mother, too."

Katara blinked. It occurred to her that she had never heard much about the Firelady. She had heard about Ozai, about Azula, and a little about Firelord Azulon from Iroh. She knew much more about Iroh and Zuko, but now she realized that all she had ever heard about Zuko's mother was that Love Amongst the Dragons was her favorite play. "I'm sorry," she finally told Zuko. "What happened to your mother?"

"I don't know," Zuko told her quietly, grimly. "She just…disappeared the day my grandfather died."

Katara blinked. "Sounds like a busy time," she said slowly. "So, your cousin died, your grandfather died, you father became Firelord instead of his older brother, and your mother just disappeared?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"I know what you're suggesting," Zuko said quietly. He shook his head. "I don't know what happened that night, and I don't care to guess."

"But don't you want to know the truth of what happened to your mother?"

Zuko looked away for a moment. "The truth is that she disappeared almost six years ago, and I've never heard or seen her since then. I don't know if she's alive or dead. I wish I knew. But my father is the only one who knows anything, and even though I must have asked him a thousand times, he never told me."

"I'm sorry, Zuko."

"What happened to you mother?"

"Fire Nation raid," she said, and she could see Zuko wince. "They killed my mother. And then they left."

"What, they just came over, killed you mother, and then left without doing anything else?" Katara nodded. "That doesn't make any sense…unless…"

"What?" Katara asked. "Do you know anything?"

"Maybe…no," he finally settled. "I don't know. But I'm sorry you lost her."

Katara took a deep, slightly shuddering breath. "That day will haunt me forever," she told him. She moved her hand up to her necklace. "This necklace is all I have left from her."

"Oh." He moved his hand up and scratched his hair. "That…wouldn't happen to be the necklace I tried to bribe you with, would it? You know…when I tied you to that tree…"

"Yeah," she said, a bit of annoyance tinging her voice. "Same necklace."

"Great," he muttered, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I didn't that the necklace meant that much to you."

"Would you have still used it if you did know?"

Zuko opened his mouth, and closed it. "I'm not sure. Maybe."

"At least I have it back now."

"I wasn't lying when I told you I didn't steal it," he told her. "I found it on a prison for earthbenders while tracing the Avatar's steps."

Katara nodded. "Right. That was when I lost it. Anyways…"

The two of them were silent again.

"Thank you," Zuko finally said. "For defending me, earlier, in the village."

She smiled. "Someone needed to stand up for you," she said. "And that guy was way out of line, the one talking about your scar."

Zuko was quiet for a moment. "Iroh told you how I got it."

"He did," Katara confirmed. She was looking straight into his eyes. "Look, Zuko. I knew you've been told you lost your honor. But…I've told you before, you're one of the most honorable people I know. Even if sometimes you make mistakes, I do believe you've got your heart in the right place." She took her hand, and slowly brought it up to his face. To his scar. She thought, maybe, he would stop her, but instead he allowed her to touch it.

It was tough. Almost similar to leather, she noted bitterly. It also felt almost scaly, and dry. There were small contractures in several places.

"Katara?"

Finally, she pulled her hand away, and instead pulled him into a tight hug, nearly knocking them both down from where they were sitting. He tensed, initially not returning the hug. After a few moments, he slowly put his hand on her back.

"You did the right thing that day," she told him quietly.

He was silent for a few moments, and as Katara felt drowsy, he repositioned her and himself so that she could lie where he had been.

"Thank you, Katara."

* * *

Zuko woke up at sunrise, as was habit for most firebenders. For a moment, he relaxed, his head against Katara's…

His eyes shot open, looking a few inches over. He blushed as he realized that he and Katara were no longer sleeping several feet apart, as they were originally, but had apparently tossed and rolled over so that Katara now had her head on his shoulder. They weren't exactly sleeping next to each other−by the looks of it, Katara had done more to roll over, and was actually sleeping somewhat diagonally compared to him.

Zuko's cheeks were both red as he comprehended the situation. He had never been this close to a girl−at least, not a teenage girl, when he was a teenager. Not to mention, it was completely by accident. Although they had, admittedly, grown closer, he doubted Katara would have wanted to be this close to him.

They were…friends, but they didn't have _that_ sort of relationship.

Slowly, Zuko inched himself away from Katara. She took in a deep breath, and for a moment Zuko worried that he had woken her up by moving. Then she let it out, giving a small, sleepy smile. Zuko stood up, looking to the horizon.

It was a new day, and despite how things had gone with the Lee and the villagers the day before, Zuko found that he still had the drive to keep going. He had, at least, gotten to eat and drink a bit. He knew he was weakened from the past couple of weeks, but the day before had restored a bit of his strength, even if he was sore from his fight with the soldier.

And Katara was there with him.

Peering out at the horizon, he saw a small, familiar shape in the distance.

The Avatar's bison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter in Part 2!


	16. Part 2 Chapter 8: Reunion and the Vision

Aang landed Appa, and Toph eagerly jumped from the bison. As nice as it was to travel freely, Toph was unable to 'see' while on the bison. It was unnerving, especially in combination with the feeling of being in the air. Landing in the grass, she immediately felt their surroundings, and she smiled as her 'sight' returned. She felt Sokka on the ground near her, while Aang was still on Appa, handing Sokka their sleeping bags.

"Hey, you guys picked a great camp site," she told them. "The grass is so soft!" She bunched it between her toes, marveling at the thick, silky texture.

"That's not grass," Sokka corrected. "Appa's shedding."

"Oh."

"It happens every year," Aang said cheerfully. "Every spring and fall."

After a moment, Toph heard Appa sneeze, and felt his fur tickling all over. He must have blown it around. She heard Aang and Sokka laughing, and felt Sokka kneeling to the ground, scooping up a pile of the fur.

"What do you think of my new wig?" he asked Aang. Aang laughed as he leapt down from Appa.

"Not bad," Aang said. "How's my beard?"

Toph grinned at her new friends' antics. She was more than happy to join in. She quickly grabbed some of the fur off of the ground, stuffing it into her short sleeves. "Excuse me, does anybody have a razor? Cause I've got some hairy pits!" She raised her arms up, showing off the fur she'd stuffed in. She laughed along with Aang and Sokka. A moment later, Aang sneezed, blowing away all of the fur they had been playing with, but they still laughed.

Later, as Sokka and Aang set up the camp, Toph just hung out, hands behind her head. She had her things set as she wanted them; she was fine. She felt Sokka looking over at her every once and a while. Less frequently, Aang would too.

"Any reason you two keep looking at me?" she finally asked. They exchanged a glance before either tried to answer.

"It's just…you're just hanging out there while we're setting up camp," Sokka said. Toph felt him motioning to things with his hands. "Usually, we divide up the work. You know, like I'm doing the sleeping bags, Aang is setting up the tents…you're just sitting there."

What did they expect from her? "I can carry my own weight," she responded. "I don't need a fire, I've already collected my own food, and look," she used her earthbending to make a shelter. "My tent's all set up."

"But what about us?" Sokka asked.

"I don't understand what the problem is," she protested.

Aang intervened, stepping between them as he spoke. "It's just not how we're used to doing things." His tone was quiet, conciliatory. Toph felt him walk over to Sokka. "Sokka, it's fine. Let's not argue over how to make camp. Remember when you and Katara argued over how to set up tents?" Toph raised an eyebrow. "Do you seriously want to argue over chores again?"

She felt Sokka crossing his arms. "Fine," the older boy said grudgingly.

They continued to set up camp, and Toph sat in her earth tent.

* * *

It must have been an hour or so later, when Toph was trying to sleep, that she felt it. Her eyes shot open, and she sat up quickly, placing a hand on the ground to better feel the vibrations. _What is this thing?_

"There's something coming toward us!" she shouted as she ran out of her tent. Aang and Sokka quickly got up. "What is it?" Aang asked.

"It feels like an avalanche," she described, trying to think of how best to describe what she felt. "But also not an avalanche."

"Your powers of perception are frightening," Sokka sarcastically told her.

Aang shook his head. "I don't know what this thing is, but it's probably best not to wait around and find out. Come on, let's get our stuff back onto Appa."

"Seriously?" she heard Sokka mutter.

Before long, they were back on Appa. Toph, of course, now couldn't feel anything, but apparently Sokka and Aang could see whatever it was.

Eventually, they landed again. She could hear Aang yawning. They had barely had any sleep the night before thanks to Xin Fu and his knucklehead earthbenders, but now this thing was preventing them from sleeping the second night in a row.

She hopped off of Appa, onto the dirt.

"Land! Land, sweet land!" She stood up. "Well, see you guys in the morning!"

She set up her earth tent, and was ready to go to sleep. After a few minutes, however, Aang came over. "Uh, hey, Toph?"

"What do you want, Twinkletoes?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Look, I just want to say sorry. About earlier. It's just…we've always split up the work. Always. And Katara was really uptight about it, so I guess that's just what we're used to."

She crossed her arms. "Fine," she said. "But I don't expect you to drop you way to do what I do. Don't expect me to do the same!"

"Right," Aang acknowledged. He sat down outside of her tent. "Katara tended to be like the big sister of the group. And after we lost her, I think Sokka has kind of seen it as his job to take care of us. He doesn't always do so well, and his cooking is actually kind of awful."

"I heard that!" Sokka shouted from the other side of the camp.

"But," Aang continued. "He's really just trying to cope with losing her. And I think he kind of channels her sometimes." Aang laughed a bit. "You know, I think if Katara were here, she'd have put up even more of a fight. You'd probably drive each other crazy."

Toph smiled a bit. "So…they once fought over setting up tents?" It sounded like a funny story. Aang was about to tell her, when Toph felt it. Again. "That thing is back!"

"Well, how far away is it? Maybe we can close our eyes just for a few minutes…" Sokka sounded tired. Left alone, he probably would have fallen asleep in minutes.

"I don't think so, Sokka." Aang sounded nervous now, and once again, they hastily threw their things onto Appa's saddle and took off.

"How does this thing keep finding us?" Toph questioned. She was actually starting to feel pretty tired herself. This thing, whatever it was, was becoming a serious nuisance. Not to mention, Toph was starting to find that there was something disturbing about having something follow you around, suddenly appearing when you think you'd lost it.

"I don't know," Aang responded. "But this time, I'm gonna make sure we lose them."

Toph bit back a remark. _How can we lose them when we don't know how they're tracking us?_

* * *

Several hours later, Appa practically crashed down into the mountains. Aang, Sokka, and Toph were thrown out into the ground. This time, they didn't even bother getting their stuff out or making any sort of camp, opting to just move around, and use their sleeping bags as pillows. It wasn't particularly warm out, but it wasn't too cold to sleep comfortably. Especially considering how tired they were.

"So…does this sort of thing happen to you guys a lot?" Toph couldn't help but ask. Being followed around was a new experience for her, but Aang and Sokka only seemed annoyed that it disturbed their sleep.

"You have no idea," Sokka told her, exasperation in his voice. "If it can happen, it happens to us. Crazy earthbending kings, angry jerks with ponytails, pirates, admirals that want to kill spirits…" He shook his head. Aang frowned, and turned to Toph.

"I did warn you that it would be dangerous to be with us."

"I know," Toph acknowledged. "I guess I just didn't think we'd find trouble this quickly."

"We didn't find this," Sokka grumbled. "It found us!" As he said this, Momo began making noises, hopping up and down, pointing out towards the mountain. "Oh, don't tell me…"

"That's impossible!" Aang protested. "There's no way they could have tracked us." They had traveled farther; he'd been so certain that he had gotten them away from…whatever it was.

"I can feel it with my own two feet," Toph confirmed. It was that same thing again. The three of them ran up to see it coming. Aang could see it more closely now. It looked a little bit similar to a tank.

"Maybe we should face them," he suggested. "Find out who they are. Who knows, maybe they're friendly?"

"Always the optimist," Sokka said. Suddenly, the thing opened, and out came the three girls from Omashu.

 _Not friendly_ , Aang thought. _Really, really NOT friendly._

The three girls were riding their mongoose-lizards towards him, Sokka, and Toph. Toph, at least, was confident.

"We can take them! We're the Avatar and the Blind Bandit!" She didn't understand why the boys were so worried about three girls. Hadn't they seen her beat all those guys from Earth Rumble?

"What about me?!" Sokka said indignantly.

"No bending," Toph said cheerfully.

"Two of those girls have no bending," Sokka said with irritation. "But they're still dangerous!"

Toph used her earthbending to create a wall between them. It was quickly blasted apart by _lightning_.

"Blue fire," Sokka grumbled as they all got onto Appa. "And now lightning. These girls are worse than Zuko!"

"Who's Zuko?" Toph asked as Appa took off.

"Just some angry jerk with a ponytail," Sokka told her.

"He's the Firelord's son," Aang explained. "He's been after me ever since I first got out of the iceberg." Toph frowned. "He chased us from the South Pole to the North Pole."

"So who're these girls, then? You guys have seen them before, apparently."

"In Omashu," Sokka said. "When Aang tried to rescue his friend, King Bumi. These girls were there, and they fought us." Toph crossed her arms.

"I still think we could've taken them."

Aang frowned. "The firebending girl is bad by herself. I mean, with the blue fire…I've never even seen blue fire before, and now lightning?"

"And the non-benders are dangerous, too," Sokka added. "There's the one girl with the knives, and then that one in pink basically paralyzed me last time we fought." He groaned. "Seriously, I never thought I'd miss the days of Zuko."

Aang frowned lightly. Once again, he found himself wondering whatever had happened to the prince.

* * *

Katara woke up slowly, a small smile on her face from her dream. She couldn't fully remember it, but she knew it had been pleasant.

"You're awake." Zuko's low voice brought her more fully to awareness. She opened her eyes and sat up, brushing a bit of hair from her face. She'd have to redo her hair.

"Good morning," she said. Then she blinked, looking to the horizon. The sun wasn't fully up yet. "Morning indeed." She stood up, doing a bit of a stretch. "So I know you firebenders like to wake up super early, but you know I don't usually wake up at this time, right?" They had, after all, spent weeks together.

Zuko offered her a bit of food, and the water pouch, which Katara noticed was fuller than it had been the day before. "Eat quickly," he said simply. "I want to be back on the ostrich-horse with the next fifteen minutes."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you get the water?" she asked after taking a sip. And what was he in such a hurry for?

"I found a creek," Zuko answered, pointing. "It seems to be a more wooded area over there."

"Oh," Katara said. That made sense.

"Katara," his voice was serious, and Katara looked over as she ate.

"What is it?" He looked very serious.

He hesitated before speaking. "When I woke up this morning, I believe I saw the Avatar's bison."

Katara froze, food still in her mouth. Her eyes widened, and she slowly swallowed the bite, not taking another.

Aang. And Sokka, too. A small smile started forming as she realized that, finally, after weeks and weeks of being separated, she was finally close enough to find them. She could finally rejoin her brother and her best friend, assure them that she wasn't dead as they surely believed. She could finally get back on track to helping Aang save the world!

Her smile fell quickly as she looked at Zuko. _Zuko._ She sighed, shaking her head. "You're going after him again, aren't you?"

"Katara," Zuko said, again, looking pained. "You know why I have to."

 _And you still don't understand why you don't_ , she thought. She looked away. "Why tell me, then? You have to know, I'd never let you capture Aang."

"I thought you'd like to be reunited with your friends," he said.

She looked back at him, one eyebrow raised. "I would," she agreed. "What's your point?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm the one that saw where your friends landed," he pointed out. "If you tried to find them by yourself, you'd just get lost. And I can't just leave you alone here, so…"

"So we'll look for them together, and then…what, fight over Aang once we find him?" Zuko gave a little shrug. "That has got to be the craziest plan I've ever heard," Katara told him bluntly. Then she shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. "But I suppose it's the only plan that could work out right now," she admitted. It wasn't a happy thought. She wanted to be back with Aang and Sokka. She didn't want to fight Zuko. She took a few more bites of food, and redid her hair. In another few minutes, she and Zuko were on the ostrich-horse, heading towards where he had seen Appa.

Katara hoped that Iroh caught up before they could fight.

* * *

They weren't traveling for long before they heard a noise. Zuko made the ostrich-horse stop, staying out of sight as he looked. Ahead of them, there was some sort of machine heading through the wooded area.

"What is that thing?" Katara asked. It wasn't like anything she could remember seeing before.

"Tank-train," Zuko told her grimly. "From my nation."

Katara blinked. Then Zuko wasn't the only one after her friends. Just perfect. "Uncle Iroh thought Azula may be going after Aang," she noted. "If he's right, then this could be her."

Zuko made the ostrich-horse start following the tank-train. "That wouldn't surprise me," Zuko said bitterly. "I wouldn't put it past her to go after my target just to spite me."

It wouldn't particularly surprise Katara either, she found. "My brother drives me crazy sometimes," she told Zuko. "But at least we aren't like you and Azula."

"At least this makes it easier to find them," Zuko noted. "You can't miss these tracks."

They continued, now followed the tracks left by the Fire Nation's machine. Something was now bothering Katara, though. Finally, she voiced her thoughts. "If we get there, and both Azula and Aang are there, then what will you do?" He didn't answer her for a moment, and she continued. "You can't fight both of them. And if you fight Aang, then I will fight you, too."

"I don't want really want to fight you," he admitted.

"I don't want to fight you, either."

It was quiet for a moment. "Azula is my priority," he finally decided. "If she's there."

Unseen to him, Katara gave a small smile.

* * *

They crashed.

Appa had fallen asleep as he flew, tired after the night of fleeing from the girls from Omashu. Aang, Sokka, and Toph had also fallen asleep, but thankfully the feeling of falling had woken them up, and Aang was able to wake Appa up. They still crashed through trees and hit the ground hard, but at least nobody was hurt. Aang looked at Toph as she got out of Appa's saddle. She hesitated for a moment, frowning at some shed fur she pulled. Aang couldn't help but feel sorry. He hadn't figured that they would find trouble so soon after she joined them, and she looked half-asleep.

"Appa's exhausted," Aang noted. They probably couldn't go any further if they wanted to.

"We've put a lot of distance between us and those girls," Sokka said, taking his sleeping bag and throwing it on the ground. "I think we should follow Appa's lead and get some sleep."

They only took a few more steps before Toph spoke again. "Wait. I don't think it's safe to do that," she said.

Sokka groaned. "Please, please don't tell me those girls have found us _again_?"

"Not yet," Toph assured him. "But I think I've finally figured out how they keep finding us." She stood next to Appa, and grabbed a handful of fur from him. "It's his fur," she told them. "Sheddy here has been leaving a trail everywhere we go!"

Aang felt suddenly, irrationally, angry. "You're blaming Appa!?" Sokka frowned as he began looking over Appa and the fur around him.

She crossed her arms. "He's got a lot of fur, and it's falling off as we fly," she continued. "If he's shedding anywhere near as much as he was earlier, then we may as well be leaving signs saying 'Avatar over here!' They're probably on their way here as we speak. We're never going to get rid of them while Appa's fur keeps leading them straight to us!"

"She's right, Aang," Sokka agreed, coming up to them. He looked between the two twelve-year-olds. "We've got to do something to stop them from following us." He let out a big yawn. "You know, unless we just want to keep being woken up."

Aang looked up, grabbing a handful of Appa's loose fur and letting it go. "I think I've got an idea." He looked back over to his friends. "It's time to give Appa a bath. A serious scrubbing and brushing. Hopefully we'll get almost all of his loose fur. I'll collect it and put it in a bag."

"Why collect it?" Toph asked.

"You guys can fly further away on Appa. I'll take the collected fur and make a false trail with my glider."

"Alone?" Sokka asked, suddenly more awake. "Aang, is it really a good idea to split up? If those girls would be chasing you…" Aang could hear the worry in his voice. He knew what was on Sokka's mind.

"I won't fight them," Aang told him. "I'll just make a fake trail, and then turn around and then take a different route to meet you guys."

"I'm with Twinkletoes," Toph said, and Aang smiled at her, even though she couldn't see it. "It's the best plan we've got. After all, we need to deal with the fur trail somehow, and get away from them. Unless you'd rather fight them," she added hopefully.

"I'd really rather not," Sokka said. "Alright, we'll go with your plan, Aang. But you," he said to Toph. "Are going to help us giving Appa his bath. You carry your own weight, we get it, but we need help here!"

Toph folded her arms, frowning, but she nodded. "Fine. I'll help. But you two better know how to wash him, cause I sure don't."

* * *

"You think this is bad," Sokka told her later as they worked together to clean off Appa's loose fur. "You should try cleaning between Appa's toes sometime. You wouldn't think that a flying creature would have such dirty feet."

"I'll take your word for it," Toph told him. They had given Appa as thorough a washing as they could in the stream. Aang used his waterbending to pour water on Appa, while Toph and Sokka scrubbed. Toph worked with Sokka, as she couldn't always tell if she was getting all of Appa's loose fur off. She didn't know how much fur they got off, but she knew that Aang was collecting as much of it as possible.

"You were right," Aang finally said when they finished Appa's bath. He was now carrying a bag full of Appa's fur. "Appa's fur was leaving a trail leading right to us."

"Told you so," she said a bit smugly, crossing her arms.

"Right, thanks. Anyways, now that he's clean, no more trail!"

"Except for your decoy trail."

"You're sure he's not going to crash again, right?" Sokka asked. "He fell asleep earlier, and I don't think he's really gotten enough rest since then…" She could feel him glancing at Appa.

"He'll be fine," Aang assured him. "Just so long as we leave his saddle and our stuff here…"

"Whoa, what?" Toph's eyes widened a bit. "You want us to ride Appa without the saddle?" She looked vaguely green. It was hard enough to get used to with the saddle.

"It'll be fine. Just hold on tight to his fur." Toph still looked uncertain.

"I'll be there, too," Sokka reminded her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If anything goes wrong, I'll catch you."

Now Toph found herself blushing. "You make me sound like some sort of damsel," she said, crossing her arms. But she got up on Appa with Sokka, clinging tightly to Appa's fur. When Appa launched up, she clasped the fur even tighter.

"You know," she said to Sokka. "I really didn't think flying could get much worse. I guess Aang just had to prove me wrong."

"That sort of thing happens to me all the time."

* * *

Their paths were all converging, now.

Iroh sat behind a boulder, observing the beginning of another sunset as he thought. He had quickened his pace after Katara had left, and had passed through a town that Zuko had passed through. The villagers had been wary of him. Apparently, Zuko had not only revealed himself as a firebender, but as the son of Ozai as well. It was moments such as that that Iroh felt weary, exasperated at his nephew's foolishness. Still, it had been interesting to learn that Katara had apparently defended him from the angry villagers.

Iroh had followed them as quickly as he could.

He had also seen the Avatar's bison, and felt certain that Zuko had as well. He would be in pursuit, Katara likely with him to rejoin her friends.

And now, he had seen the tracks of a Fire Nation tank. Someone was in the chase, and he was willing to bet that it was Azula. After Zuko, or after the Avatar, either way they would meet.

Their paths were all merging, and Iroh knew it would explode. He did not intend on allowing his nephew and Katara, to face this threat without him.

* * *

Katara and Zuko reached the stream in the forest, and Zuko hopped off of the ostrich-horse. The Fire Nation machine had been diverted, apparently after releasing three animals. Eelhounds or mongoose-lizards, Zuko had reckoned. Or a similar animal. He and Katara were following those tracks.

"They've split up," he told her as she got off of the ostrich-horse. He pointed. "Two of them have gone that way," pointing across the stream, where the trees seem to have been broken. "And one has gone in this direction." He knelt down, picking something white up. "The bison's fur," he noted. He offered it to her to see.

Katara took it from his hand. "It is spring, I suppose. Many animals shed during this time." She looked over to the trees, and then at the fur on the ground. "Weird. I would say that Appa was going in the way of those trees, knocking them down as he flew, but the fur trail goes this way…"

Zuko nodded. "I think you're right. It's a decoy," he realized. He looked back over to the trees. "If the bison is shedding, that's probably how my sister has been tracking him. If he realized this, then I bet he's leaving a fake trail."

"Doesn't seem like she fell for it," Katara said, frowning. "Since two of those animals were going in the direction Appa went." Sokka would be the one flying Appa, and now being chased by…who?

Zuko shrugged. "The Avatar would be the one leaving the fake trail, and my sister would have realized that. We go this way." He went to get back onto the ostrich-horse, but Katara quickly grabbed his wrist. She blushed, and withdrew her hand.

"Give me the water pouch. I can fill it up here."

"There's still enough water in there."

"Not for drinking." She rolled her eyes. "For fighting Azula. Waterbender, remember."

Zuko looked slightly embarrassed. "Oh. Right." He handed her the water pouch.

In another minute, they were back in pursuit.

* * *

"Oh no," Sokka groaned loudly.

"Let me guess," Toph said dryly, face still green. "The girls still managed to find us?"

"Yeah," Sokka said. He was at Appa's reins, trying to make Appa go faster. Sadly, it seemed that the bison was still too tired. "Not good, not good!" He looked ahead, thinking of how to get away from those girls. "We just need to make it across that river," he figured.

"And that's how far exactly?"

"Not far." Toph felt them hit something, probably a tree, and in a few moments after that they collided with the ground. "Did we make it across?"

"We made it! We're safe," he assured her. They both leapt off of Appa, and despite the situation, Toph felt relieved to be able to 'see' again. She felt across the river, the girls on the mongoose-lizards still coming towards them—the creatures were crossing the water.

"I think you spoke too soon!" She tried to block them off by raising the earth. Despite this, in a moment, Toph felt one of the girls landing nearby. "Fine," she said, frowning on concentration. "You want to fight? Good, cause so do I!" She moved the ground beneath the feet of the girl, but the girl was barely affected, her balance too good to be easily disrupted. The girl came closer to her, but Toph felt Sokka throw his boomerang. It hit the girl, momentarily sending her to the ground.

The other girl quickly joined them, throwing knives at them. Toph raised a barrier between them, and felt the knives hitting her shield. She tried launching it at the knife-girl. She felt the other girl coming back after her, getting in close. Before she could react, the girl had hit her in one of her arms. She quickly knocked her away by launching her with a bit of earth.

The arm that had been hit, however, felt numb, and when Toph tried moving it, it didn't respond. _Oh, right_ , she recalled. _Sokka did say that one of these girls paralyzed him last time they saw them._

She felt Sokka struggling with knife-girl, apparently getting himself pinned to a tree. The other girl came up close to Toph again, and Toph attempted to keep her from getting close again, but this girl was a near match for Aang in moving around in the air. Finally, the girl got through and hit Toph several time.

"Hey, what're you-!?" Toph hit the ground.

She couldn't move either of her arms now. But it was even worse than that. She couldn't feel the earth. She couldn't feel the vibrations, where the girls were. Moving her foot, she found the ground unresponsive. She couldn't bend.

For the first time in a long time, she really couldn't see.

"I thought when Ty Lee and I finally caught you guys, it would be more exciting," she heard one of the girls saying in a near monotone. "Oh, well. Victory is boring." As soon as this girl said this, Toph heard Appa growl and heard the girls scream as a gust of wind went through the air. Judging by the splash, the two of them had been tossed into the river.

"Ha!" she shouted. "How's that for victory, huh?"

It still felt a bit empty, though, considering that she was on the ground, unable to move, unable to 'see' her surroundings. She heard Sokka struggle to get himself unpinned from the tree. Finally, he succeeded, and in a moment, she was lifted up.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I can't move," she told him. He pulled her up, leaning down and flinging one of her arms around his neck.

"It'll pass," he promised. "That girl, Ty Lee, did the same thing to me back in Omashu. It'll wear off in a few minutes." Toph was still silent, and worry still ate at her. Would her bending return? What would she do without it? "Is something else wrong?"

"My bending's gone," she told him in a slightly panicked voice. "One moment I had it, and then when she hit me, my bending disappeared."

Sokka was speechless for a moment. "I didn't know that was possible," he finally said. "I mean, I know benders can lose their abilities under certain circumstances, like certain eclipses and things. But a person taking bending away?" Sokka was quiet for another moment. "It isn't permanent when she paralyzes you, I doubt this bending-blocking she does is permanent, either."

"What if it is?"

"It won't be," Sokka assured her. "Let's just give this a few minutes." He pulled her up onto Appa.

"There were only two of the girls here," Toph noted. "The firebender went after Aang." She knitted her eyebrows together. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"He wasn't going to fight her," Sokka said. "The plan was to lead her away, and then come back to us."

"Does he always follow a plan exactly?"

Sokka was quiet for a moment. "We'd better go look for him," Sokka finally said, and Toph could hear the concern in his voice. It hadn't been too long ago that he had lost his sister. "I'll hold onto you, but do you mind if we start flying?"

"Go ahead," Toph said. "I'll just be lying here, not moving, like a bag of unbendable dirt." They took off on Appa, Sokka holding onto Toph. After a few more minutes, Toph began feeling her hands again, and flexed her fingers slowly. "I think some feeling is finally returning."

"Told you so. What about your bending?"

"I don't know," she said. "Once we're on the ground, I check by throwing a rock at the firebender." She frowned. "I suppose I can't discount non-benders ever again," she admitted. "Bender or not, that girl is the most dangerous person I've met."

"Thank you," Sokka said.

"Well, I didn't say _you_ were dangerous…"

* * *

Aang knew the plan was to make the trail, and then return to Toph and Sokka, but he was done with running. These girls had followed him all the way from Omashu, and he wanted to know who they were. They were Fire Nation, and that was probably why they were chasing him. That was clear enough. But that firebending girl seemed vaguely familiar. So instead of returning to his friends, he sat and waited.

The girl came, as he knew she would. She had a cold, satisfied smirk as she got off of her mongoose-lizard. "Alright, you've caught up with me! No who are you and what do you want?"

"You mean you haven't guessed? You don't see the family resemblance? Here's a hint." She covered her left eye with her hand. "I must find the Avatar to restore my honor." She was Zuko's sister, then. Or so Aang figured. She seemed the right age, unless Zuko had cousins. He knew she had felt familiar, and he supposed this was why. "It's okay. You can laugh. It's funny." _Not really_ , he thought.

"So what now?" he asked.

"Now," she answered. "Now, it's over! You're tired and you have no place to go. You can run, but I'll catch you!"

Aang stood up. "I'm not running." Zuko's sister smirked. He held his staff, prepared to fight.

"Do you really want to fight me?"

Suddenly, an ostrich-horse ran between them, two people jumping down from it.

"Yes, I really do!" a familiar voice said. Zuko. He stood between Aang and his sister, on Aang's right.

Aang's eyes widened. "Zuko?!" He hadn't seen the Fire Nation prince since the North Pole. _I knew he was alive, somewhere._ But now he wanted to fight his sister?

Aang looked to the other person that had been on the ostrich-horse with Zuko, and Aang's eyes felt as though they were about to pop from their sockets. _It can't be…_

"I was wondering when you'd show up, Zu-zu," Zuko's sister said. If it weren't for the fourth person there, Aang may have laughed, but his attention was too focused on the other new person. Long—though not as long as it had been—brown hair, pulled back into a ponytail. Brown skin, adorned with green Earth Kingdom robes.

Aang recalled his vision from the swamp. _Katara. But it's not possible…is it?_

Zuko's sister turned to the girl ( _Katara?_ ). "I see you brought your pet," she said viciously.

"You know," the girl snapped, and Aang took a step forward as he recognized the voice. Katara. _It really is her. I don't know how, but it's her._ "I've never actually wanted to slap anyone in the face in my life−and then I met you!"

"Katara?" Aang called. She looked back, and the two of them both smiled for a moment.

"Hey, Aang."

He had so many questions. How was she alive? How did she and Zuko's sister know each other? Why was she with Zuko? But those questions, it seemed, would have to wait.

"Back off, Azula!" Zuko took a fighting stance, facing his sister, now identified as Azula. "He's mine." Aang raised an eyebrow, taking his own stance. Katara was already in hers, facing Azula. She didn't seem too concerned about Zuko, even after his declaration that Aang was 'his'.

"I'm not going anywhere," Azula said. Zuko glanced back and forth between them, Azula, Aang, and even Katara. Katara was mostly focused on Azula, but she once looked at Zuko, and gave him a slight nod.

Zuko made the first attack, sending several balls of fire to his sister. It did little, it did nothing. She dispersed it with ease, and made her own attack, sending Zuko into the ruins of a building. Katara took water out of her water pouch, slapping Azula once, before having to dodge a rather large blast. Aang also attempted to fight, being blasted away. Azula made a large pillar of fire that she brought down, separating Katara from Aang and Zuko. What occurred over the next few moments was, in Aang's opinion, nothing short of crazy, as Azula went back and forth between throwing fire at Aang and Zuko, as they threw air and fire at her.

 _Family dinners must be awful in their family_ , he noted.

Finally, Zuko was blasted again, but Azula's leg was pulled from under her by Katara, who Aang saw looked furious. Despite momentarily being grounded, Azula kicked a ball of fire at Aang, knocking him upwards, into the old buildings.

Jumping back up, Azula launched a huge blast of fire at Katara, who tried to form a water shield, but the fire was too large…

Zuko, up again, pushed her out of the way while dispersing some of the flame.

Aang blinked. _This must be the weirdest fight I've ever been in. And that's saying something._

Azula was preparing another blow, but Aang quickly blew a strong gust of wind at her.

"I'm over here!" he shouted at her. He momentarily considered sticking his butt in the air. _But_ , he figured as he dodged more fire, _that's not necessary._ _And it would probably end painfully._

Aang was blasted through another building, and as he was on the ground, he noticed Zuko fighting his sister. She blasted him to the ground, and from what Aang saw, Zuko was unconscious. She turned her attention back to him. Aang hopped to the top of a building, but she sliced through it with her fire, and he fell to the inside. She came in, surrounding the room with fire.

Just when Aang thought he was done for, Katara appeared in the doorway, pulling at Azula's hand with her water, and releasing Aang from the debris pinning him down.

"Katara!"

She momentarily grinned at him, before running as Azula turned her attention to her. Aang got up, following them out, and blasting Azula with a gust of wind. Azula threw fire in return, but Katara quickly extinguished it.

In another moment, Azula experienced the unpleasantness of being hit in the head with a boomerang. She punched another bit of fire at Katara before running off. Aang and Katara turned to look at Sokka, who was looking in shock at his not-dead sister.

"Is this another hallucination?" he asked quietly.

"Sokka!" Katara's grin was large, but she quickly turned over to follow Azula.

"Do you see that?" Sokka worriedly asked Aang.

"She's real," Aang confirmed. "She's alive!"

"She is alive," Sokka's voice was now happier, though still stunned.

They followed Azula, and Katara made the first move, throwing several sharp icicles her head. Grabbing her attention, the three of them tag-teamed her. Aang couldn't help but smile a bit. It had been so long since it had been him, Katara, and Sokka. Now, the original team was back together.

It felt sort of lucky, and for the first time since they'd noticed they were being followed, Aang suddenly felt certain that this _would_ end well. Suddenly, the ground moved from beneath Azula, throwing her into the dirt. Toph walked up, smiling.

"You were right, Sokka," she said. "My bending is definitely back." She smirked. "Back and ready to kick some firebender butt!" Aang blinked. _Back? What did that mean?_

With the four of them against her, Azula began running away. Aang and his friend pursued her. Her attempt to flee was halted when she ran into an older man. Aang blinked. It was the other Fire Nation man, the general who was with Zuko. Aang remembered how this man had put his foot down when Zhao wanted to kill the Moon Spirit at the North Pole. And now, here he was again, with Zuko, who was conscious once more.

Six of them, now. All against Azula.

It was a strange moment. It occurred to Aang that all nations were represented here, and bender and non-bender alike. Even the Fire Nation was fighting the Fire Nation today.

Aang briefly wondered what it meant that the Firelord's children were fighting each other.

The six of them had Azula cornered. "Well, look at this," she said. "Enemies and traitors, all working together. I'm done. I know when I'm beaten." She raised her hands in surrender. "You've got me. A princess surrenders with honor." Nobody made a move. After a few moments, though, Azula struck the Fire Nation general down. Aang heard Zuko and Katara both let out sounds of shock and anger, and they all turned to attack Azula at once, everyone attacking with their element, or in the case of Sokka, boomerang. It was something of a satisfying moment, Aang supposed, in that all four elements were combined in one attack.

But it didn't work.

There was only an explosion, and when the dust settled, Azula was gone.

She would come back to trouble them on another day.

* * *

Katara momentarily glared at the spot where Azula had been just moments before. That girl seemed to get worse every time Katara saw or heard of her. And now…Iroh. Katara was ready to turn to see if she could heal him when she was nearly knocked down by her brother. Sokka grabbed and hugged her tightly, so tightly she could barely breathe. He actually picked her up, and put her back down.

"We thought you were dead," he said in her ear. There was a crack in his voice. He finally stepped back, and she could see tears in his eyes. "We searched all over for you, but we couldn't find you. We were sure you had died." He hugged her again, and she returned it. It was so good to see them again—if only it had been under better circumstances.

"Oh, Sokka. I'm so sorry," she found that her throat hurt a bit.

"How did you survive?" Aang asked, coming forward and hugging her. "And how did you end up with _Zuko_?"

"What?" Sokka asked. He looked to Aang. Then he looked to Katara, and then back to Aang again. "What do you mean, with Zuko?"

"She and Zuko showed up together," Aang told Sokka. "On the same ostrich-horse."

Sokka looked horrified. "What? Katara, what happened? Did he hurt you? Hold you hostage?" She could see him glaring at Zuko over her shoulder.

"Sokka, I'm fine," Katara told him. "Actually, you have Zuko to thank for me being alive."

"What?!"

She nodded. "After I got caught in that wave, Zuko rescued me. I've been with him and his uncle ever since." She frowned. "I originally intended on meeting up with you guys at Omashu, but…"

"Conquered," Sokka finished. He scratched his head. He was smiling again. "I'm still expecting to wake up. This just seems too good to be true."

Katara hugged him again. "I'm real," she assured him. She hugged Aang again, too. "I'm so sorry to cause you so much grief."

"It's okay," Aang said. "You're here again, and you're alive." He smiled. "It's more than we could've asked for."

"So…I'm guessing you're Sokka's dead sister, who apparently isn't dead?" the earthbender asked. She looked around Aang's age. She nodded.

"Katara," she introduced herself, offering her hand to the girl. Katara couldn't help but notice her eyes, which appeared clouded over.

"Toph," the girl introduced, taking Katara's hand. _If she is blind_ , Katara noted, _it sure doesn't slow her down any._

"Well," Sokka said cheerfully, taking Katara's hand and attempting to drag her. "Now that we've all hugged and everything, can we go now?"

Katara blinked, and pulled her hand away. She hesitated, looking over to Uncle Iroh and Zuko. Iroh was still unconscious on the ground, and Zuko was kneeling over him. Azula was every bit the firebender that Iroh had said she was, and he had paid the price. The only good news was that Zuko was still at his side; Iroh was still alive, but he was seriously injured. There was no nearby town to help them. Katara shook her head, sighing.

She closed her eyes.

For weeks, she had been trying to get back to Sokka and Aang.

Now, the moment finally came where she could leave with them. But she couldn't.

"I can't leave them," she said quietly, looking back to her brother and friend.

"What?" Sokka's voice was so disappointed. Katara opened her eyed, looking straight at him. He looked as heartbroken as he sounded, eyebrows furrowed above almost watering eyes. "What do you mean you can't leave them?"

"Exactly what I said, Sokka. I can't leave them. At least not right now."

Sokka shook his head. Aang took a step toward her. "But we just got back together!" He sounded incredibly hurt. He looked like he was about to cry. The last thing Katara wanted was to hurt her brothers, but she had to make them understand… "Now you're going to leave us again!?"

"I never wanted to leave you to begin with!" Katara reminded them. Aang's eyes widened, and he took a step back, blinking. Something in her words had stunned him.

"But now you're choosing to leave us!" Sokka shouted. "How can you choose… _them_ over us?!"

"I am NOT choosing them over you!" she matched his tone. "And what makes you think I have to 'choose'?"

"They're our enemies, Katara!" Sokka seemed to lose it. He was motioning desperately as he spoke. "We are talking about Prince Zuko, the angry jerk with the ponytail, and his uncle, the two of whom chased us from one pole to the other! Royals of the Fire Nation! The people who we are fighting! Why don't you understand this?!"

"You don't know them!" Katara thought of all of her experiences with Iroh and Zuko, everything she had come to know and understand about them. She thought of Iroh, who secretly supported Aang, and hoped to guide Zuko onto the same path. "They may be Fire Nation," Katara said firmly, but more calmly. "But they are good people. I know we've fought in the past, but Zuko is…Zuko is honorable, and he has a sense of justice. He gets confused sometimes…"

"Confused?!" Sokka's tone was indignant.

"But he's ultimately good-hearted," Katara concluded, ignoring Sokka. "And Uncle Iroh−"

"Did you seriously just call him _uncle_?!" Sokka looked scandalized. Aang still remained silent.

"You try spending weeks with him without coming to care about him," Katara responded. She balled her fist. "Iroh is the kindest, wisest, friendliest man I have ever had the fortune to meet." She pointed behind her. "And right now, he's badly hurt! But I can heal him. I won't leave them right now," Katara declared. "I'm not leaving them until I know they're safe." Sokka still looked flabbergasted, but at least his anger seemed to be dying down. He just shook his head silently. Toph hung out behind the boys, arms crossed, listening, but not offering her opinion on the situation. Aang looked like he had realized something. He stepped towards her, looking behind her at Iroh and Zuko.

"Are you friends with them?" He, at least, didn't sound upset about it. He didn't look angry, or hurt about it.

Katara thought of her time with Iroh and Zuko. Talking about plays, and their mothers, and how they had saved her life. There was trust between them now, and a bond which drove her to stay, even as she had the opportunity to leave them to be with Aang and Sokka. "Yes," she said softly. "We are friends." Aang looked slightly mystified.

He smiled. "I'm glad," he told her, and Sokka made a scandalized squeak. "I once asked Zuko if we could be friends. He just shot fire at me."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Would this be after he rescued you from Zhao?"

"What?" Sokka asked. "That never happened." He blinked, looking at Aang. He shook his head as Aang didn't deny it. "You're telling me about this later," he told Aang. Katara raised both eyebrows now.

"Sokka," Aang said suddenly. "This is my vision. The one from the swamp."

Sokka's eyes widened.

"Vision?" Katara questioned.

"Aang had visions of you and Toph while we were in a swamp populated by people that don't wear pants and eat bugs," Sokka bluntly summarized. "You know, the usual sort of stuff." Sokka was joking, but his arms were still crossed, his voice tense, and he was avoiding her eyes.

"I saw bits of this conversation," Aang told everyone. "I never understood what the vision was supposed to be telling me. But now I think I understand." He turned to Sokka. "I think Katara is supposed to stay with them."

"No!" Sokka rounded on Aang. "How can you say that?! Don't you want her back?!"

"Of course I want her back! You know how much I missed her. But she doesn't want to come back now. Not until those two are safe." He pointed at Zuko and Iroh.

As Sokka and Aang exchanged heated words, Katara teared up. Distressed, she looked back to Zuko and Iroh. Zuko was now trying to move Iroh, probably to find better shelter as he tried to treat Iroh's wound. _I can treat it better_ , she knew. She looked back to her brother and Aang, taking a step forward. "They need me, Aang," she said calmly, looking also to her brother. "He needs me. I can't leave them now."

"This is my vision," Aang said. "I'm telling you, we're supposed to let Katara stay. The vision was telling me to let her go."

"I'm with Twinkletoes," Toph suddenly spoke up. Katara blinked. _Twinkletoes?_ "Look, I'm new to these adventures you guys seem familiar with, but Aang did say his vision of me helped you guys find me. It led him to me. Now he had this vision of Katara? I think Aang knows what he's doing here, Sokka. And if you're worried that she'd be in danger," Toph added. "Don't be. She's been with them this long, and they haven't hurt her yet. Plus, from what I've heard, Katara is more than capable of handling herself." Toph sent Katara a smile, which Katara returned.

"Thanks, Toph." She turned to Sokka, who now seemed to be the only one unconvinced.

He shook his head sadly. "Dad told me to protect you," he said sadly. "I already failed once. How can you ask me to let you go off with a pair of firebenders?"

"I know Dad asked you to protect me," Katara said, taking her brother's hands. "But now I'm asking you to trust me. Trust that I know them, because I do. Trust that I can protect myself."

Sokka's eyebrows were pulled together, and he looked like he was still about to protest, but finally, he looked away, and gave a tight nod.

"When will we see each other again?" He looked to her again. "If I have to let you go now, then I need to know that we will be reunited again."

Katara looked over to where Zuko was moving Iroh again. She recalled talking to Iroh about his plans. "Ba Sing Se," she told her brother. "It's a long story, but those two are fugitives of the Fire Nation now. They're going to go to Ba Sing Se as refugees, and I'll stay with them until then, where they'll be safe. Meet me there. And then we can regroup." This time, at least, they knew each other was okay. And they had a place to meet up.

Sokka nodded, and then pulled Katara into another tight hug. She returned it, holding onto her brother for a few long seconds. "I can't wait to see you again," he told her. Pulling back, he offered a small smile. "Keep out of trouble, okay? And if those two give you any trouble, kick their butts for me."

She smiled, almost laughing. "Take care of yourself, Sokka. And our friends." He began to walk away. Aang came up next, also hugging her. "Thanks for backing me up, Aang," she said. "I'll miss you."

He offered her a smile. "It won't take too long to get to Ba Sing Se," he told her. "This'll be nothing compared to thinking you were dead for almost two months." He looked over to Iroh and Zuko contemplatively, then looked back to Katara. "This is destiny. I'm sure of it." Then he went to join Sokka.

Toph stayed behind. "Good luck," the young earthbender said. "And I'm glad you're alive. I haven't known those two for long, but I could tell they missed you."

"Are you teaching Aang earthbending?" Katara questioned.

"Haven't gotten the chance to teach him anything," Toph said. "But that's the plan. Anyways, see you in Ba Sing Se." She frowned as she turned. "I hate cities," Katara heard her mutter as she left to join Aang and Sokka.

Katara watched for a few moments as they left. For so long, her goal had been to reunite with them, and now she chose to stay with Zuko and Iroh. She had done so before, she knew, but this was the first time she had actually acknowledged them as friends. If one had asked her a few weeks ago if she would ever choose to stay with Iroh and Zuko instead of going with Aang and Sokka, she would have told them never.

How things change, she noted as she turned to go catch up with Zuko.

* * *

Zuko found a building on the outskirts of town, facing the sunset. He put Iroh down, taking off Iroh's top. They had bandages, at least, and he took them out. He looked at the wound, wincing as he looked at the burn.

All firebenders learned the basics of treating burns when they were young. Of course they did; it would remarkably foolish not to, given how dangerous even the most basic of training accidents could be. But Zuko wasn't sure that he was cut out for this sort of wound.

"I can help," an unexpected voice came. Zuko's eyes widened as he looked at the door opening.

"Katara?" He couldn't believe it. But there she was, and she came in. "What…what are you doing here?" He had thought she would have left with the Avatar and her brother.

"I can help him," she said quietly. She took some water out of the water pouch, and surrounded her hand with it.

"What are you doing?" he asked. She knelt down, and placed her hands onto Uncle Iroh's wound. To Zuko's astonishment, the water began glowing blue. "W-what?"

"Some waterbenders have healing abilities," Katara told him. "I happen to be one of those."

Zuko's eyes widened, and he looked back down to his uncle. The two of them were silent as Katara worked on Iroh's wound. After a while, she took the water out, putting it back into the pouch. "I think that's about all I can do for now," she said. "But I think I was able to heal a lot of it."

Zuko look at the wound. It was mostly healed. What had previously been a dangerous burn, straight through Iroh's skin and organs, now appeared to be just a little worse than a bad sunburn. "You really did," he noted, amazement in his voice. He looked back to her, impressed. "Thank you, Katara. Thank you so much."

She offered a smile, touching his hand with hers. "I'm glad I could help."

"What about your friends?" he questioned. "If you're here, then does that mean…they left without you? You chose to stay here?"

"I did," Katara confirmed.

"But why? I thought you wanted to be back with your friends."

"I did. And I still do. But I couldn't rejoin them when I knew that my other friends needed me."

Zuko's eyes widened, and he once again looked to her. It felt unlike any of the past times—more like he was seeing her for the first time. Suddenly, she wasn't just the waterbender he saved, or the friend of the Avatar, or the girl who refused to go along with him stealing. This was Katara, his friend, who he cared about, who cared about him. Who traveled through the desert and defended him against the village he had helped. Katara, who understood the loss of a mother.

Katara, who had the chance to leave him for the Avatar and her brother, and instead chose to come back and heal his uncle.

They set up what they could, identifying where there was food and water in the nearby area. They made Iroh as comfortable a place as they could.

As they worked, Zuko kept glancing at Katara. Once, he even smiled a little.

Whatever came next, he was glad to have Katara there with him.

**End Part 2**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So I have one chapter in Part 3 to revise and post. After that, it's all going to be new stuff. So it will take longer, for one thing. I'll also give a bit of a warning about my fanfic writing style--I tend to write, post, then go back and revise it. So I'm very sorry if the typo count goes up, or if it seems messier.  
> Another thing:  
> I originally started this fic a few years ago, with a fairly basic plot in mind. However, since then I've had something of an alternate plot idea. The part in question is still a bit off. But by the end of Part 3, I'm gonna have to choose between two very different plots. This is mostly for Part 4 of the fic. (I'm planning for 5 total parts.) If anyone reading this has an opinion, I welcome you to share it. It's not a poll-I'm making the final decision. But if anyone has anything to say, then I will consider what you say before I finalize my decision.  
> So basically:  
> Plot A:  
> Considerably more similar to canon  
> Maximized Zutara interaction  
> Slower pacing  
> Lighter in tone  
> Plot B:  
> Larger departure of canon, more original  
> Very much reduced Zutara interaction.  
> Arguably a more rewarding/spectacular payoff for Zutara, however.  
> A bit more character focus, especially for Zuko and Katara as individuals  
> A bit darker in tone than Plot A.
> 
> If you have an opinion, feel free to let me know, and I'll consider what anyone has to say, even if I'm not exactly doing a poll.
> 
> Anyways, onto Part 3!


	17. Part 3 Chapter 1: Opposing Elements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 3: Under the Crystals' Glow

Aang, Sokka, and Toph rode away from the abandoned town on Appa, Sokka glancing back every minute. His thoughts lingered on Katara. _Alive, she’s alive,_ he thought, a pleased shock reverberating through him. For once, at least, the universe had been kind to him. But just when they had been reunited, she had chosen to stay with Zuko and his uncle. Sokka frowned as he thought of the two firebenders. _They chased us around the world, trying to capture Aang. And now she calls them friends?_ He felt a nervous nausea in his stomach as he thought of Katara alone with them. He felt a hand on his knee and turned his head to see Aang.

“She’ll be alright, Sokka.” Aang was smiling; no doubt thoughts similar to Sokka’s were going through Aang’s mind regarding Katara’s survival.

“She’s alone with them,” he replied. He crossed his arms. “Doesn’t she understand that they’re dangerous? They’re the enemy.”

“She knows. But she seems to trust them.” Sokka opened his mouth to argue, but Aang quickly continued. “She’s been with them for the past couple of months, Sokka. Don’t you think she knows them better than we do? If she thinks they’re trustworthy…” He smiled at Sokka, scooting closer and tossing an arm around Sokka’s back. Sokka sighed, shaking his head.

“I thought she was dead. And the moment I get her back, she left again.” He could hardly believe it.

“But now we know she’s alive,” Aang said. “And we know where we can find her again.”

“Ba Sing Se,” Sokka said. He had sort of wanted to go there since he was a kid. The greatest of the Earth Kingdom’s strongholds. “I guess we know where to go now. At least we won’t just be aimlessly wandering around.” Sokka had always liked plans.

“They’ll be going by land,” Aang noted. “Since we’re flying, we can probably take our time.” He grinned. “I know some places that are loads of fun! We can visit them along the way. Like a vacation!”

Sokka raised an eyebrow, but he offered Aang a small smile. “Like Kyoshi Island? And Omashu?” It was nice to Aang acting like the kid he was again. It was unfair, Sokka noted, how the world had been dumped on Aang’s shoulders, when he was so young. But then, he wondered, were the rest of them so different?

Once again, he wished his dad was here.

Aang nodded. “Except, hopefully without any fights…”

“Great,” Toph said. She was still clutching Appa’s fur tightly, looking vaguely nauseous as they flew. “But can we find somewhere to stop now? I’m sure we’re far enough that those girls won’t find us again. And I’m tired.” As if to emphasize the statement, she let out a large yawn, joined by Aang and Sokka. “You brought me along to teach you earthbending,” she reminded Aang, “and if those girls are still going to keep following us, you’ll need it.” She rubbed her arms absently. Sokka frowned, thinking of what had happened when Toph had fought the pink girl. He hadn’t known that it was possible to disable someone’s bending by touching them. _An incredibly useful skill_ , he noted, _but not great when you’re on the receiving end._ Especially not for Toph, who used her earthbending to see. Toph scowled. “Training starts tomorrow, and we shouldn’t be half asleep during lessons.”

Agreeing, they had Appa land. The place they found was perfect for earthbending practice, Aang said, and Toph agreed. It was a bare canyon with little sand or grass. There was a small pond, with enough water for Aang to practice his waterbending, too. There were no nearby settlements to cause distractions, attract trouble, or be disturbed by any rock-throwing that could happen during the training. The exhausted trio set up only what they needed to sleep, before quickly falling into dreams.

* * *

Katara used her waterbending to heal Iroh as he slept, the liquid glowing brightly as she bent it. She had used it previously to heal Iroh after speaking to her brother and Aang, making sure that Iroh was out of immediate danger. She and Zuko had moved Iroh to shelter for the night. Zuko, admittedly, had done most of the moving; Katara kept her waterskin open and ready to use, her eyes looking far forward and around, seeking any sign that Zuko’s sister was still in the area. Finding none, the two of them settled down for the night in a run-down old home. It was small and dusty, with large holes in the ceiling and every wall. But it was out of the way from where they had been, with a stream not far away.

Katara moved the water, feeling the flow of Iroh’s chi as she worked to finish healing him. There was still much redness around the wound, and Katara doubted that she could fully prevent scarring. Still, he was much improved from the previous day. Iroh was now sleeping peacefully, his mind lost in some dream. At least it seemed to be a pleasant one. He was mostly quiet as he slept, but there were a few times that Katara thought she saw him smile momentarily. She withdrew the last of the water, placing it back into her waterskin.

“How is he?” Zuko asked from behind her.

“As well as can be expected. Better even,” she answered, standing and turning to face Zuko. He had filled Iroh’s teapot with water and was now heating it with firebending. The tea leaves had all been placed inside before heating. Katara smiled; it was a kind gesture from Zuko. She sighed, looking out of the hole in the wall to look at the sky, thinking of her brother and of Aang. _They’ll be alright_ , she told herself. And at least they knew she was alive. At least she knew that they were alright. It was more than they had before. She looked back to Iroh. “I think he’ll be awake soon.”

“Are you staying after he wakes up?” Zuko asked. He looked down to the teapot as he spoke.

“My friends and I agreed on where we can meet. But first I want to be sure that you and your uncle are out of your sister’s reach.” Zuko scowled as he heated the teapot; Iroh twitched in his sleep, and a quick glance showed a small smile at his lips. Katara wondered what he was dreaming of.

* * *

For the first time in weeks, Aang’s sleep had been restful, a deep sleep filled with pleasant dreams. As the sun rose, Aang woke up, a smile coming to his face as he thought of the previous day’s events. Katara was alive, planning to rejoin them in Ba Sing Se. And today, Toph was going to begin training him in earthbending. He jumped up in the air, floating into a landing next to Sokka, who readjusted himself with a grumble. “Today’s the day!” Aang cheered. “After all that time searching for a teacher, I’m finally starting earthbending! And this place, it’s perfect don’t you think?” He motioned around. Sokka didn’t answer, curling deeper into his sleeping bag. Aang looked down at him. “Sokka?”

Sokka groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. Aang could see that he still looked half-asleep. “You can’t just let a guy sleep, can you? After all that running over the past couple days.”

Aang blinked and frowned. “You couldn’t sleep last night?”

Before Sokka could answer, the rocks and ground began to rumble, and Toph’s earth-tent was thrown apart. Toph stood where the tent had been, standing as tall as she could, hands on her hips. “Good morning, earthbending student!”

“Good morning, Sifu Toph.” Aang gave a small bow to her. The girl seemed to be in a better mood than she had been the day before. He was glad she didn’t seem to be too disturbed by the action of the previous days.

“Great,” Sokka said, getting up and letting out a yawn. His eyes had purple rings under them and he rubbed them as he looked at the two twelve-year-olds. “I’ll just be setting up our campsite and making dinner.” Aang grimaced. “You two just have fun training and don’t accidentally bring down the rocks on our heads.” Sokka walked away and Aang frowned as he watched. Something was bothering his friend. Aang felt a pebble hit him on his arm and turned to see Toph waiting.

“The first lesson starts now.”

Aang grinned, excitement overtaking him, and he began listing crazy moves, culminating in suggesting a land-whirlpool. _Wouldn’t that be a cool move? And if anyone can to that, Toph can._ But she swatted just him with her hand, trying to bring him back to level.

“Let’s start with ‘move a rock.’” She walked away.

“Sounds good, sounds good,” Aang said, following her.

Toph spent the next few minutes instructing Aang on the basic stance and motion of moving a rock. She displayed the basic form, correcting Aang’s stance. She explained the element’s nature and gave an example of moving a rock before asking Aang to move one himself. Aang listened, though something didn’t quite feel right in his understanding. But he had listened and observed Toph, and he tried to do what she did.

On his own attempt, Aang not only failed to move the rock, but instead sent himself flying backwards.

* * *

Iroh was slowly coming around and Katara watched as Zuko spoke to his uncle, coaxing him to consciousness. Finally, Iroh awoke, gazing at his nephew, who was leaning over him. As Iroh adjusted himself into more of a sitting position, he noticed Katara standing to Zuko’s side; he momentarily looked surprised before she offered a smile.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake,” she told Iroh. Iroh returned her smile.

“Azula did this to you,” Zuko told Iroh. “It was a surprise attack.” Katara’s smile dropped; she was beginning to think that Azula’s involvement should automatically discard the possibility of a ‘surprise’ attack.

Iroh appeared to agree. “Somehow that’s not so surprising.” Iroh groaned, and Zuko momentarily reached out to him, before drawing his hand back. He glanced at Katara, who observed Iroh.

Zuko handed his uncle one of the cups of tea he had poured; the other one was offered to Katara. His way of thanking her for helping Iroh, she suspected as she took it. “I hope I made it the way you like it,” he told his uncle. Katara watched as Iroh took a sip from his cup and let out a surprised sound of disgust, his face making a comical expression, before he quickly schooled his face into a more neutral appearance. Katara raised an eyebrow at Iroh, before glancing at Zuko; the teenaged firebender was still looking expectantly at his uncle, having apparently not noticed his uncle’s reaction.

Iroh grimaced before speaking. “Good. That was very…uh, bracing.” Katara stifled a snigger as Zuko took Iroh’s cup and refilled it. Zuko looked at her, raising the teapot.

“I’m fine,” she told him. Seeing that her cup was still full, Zuko frowned. Katara inwardly groaned but took a sip of the tea and struggled not to gag. It didn’t taste like any tea she’d had before; it was over-steeped—bitter and it had a vague, strange taste mixed in. Katara wondered about the water quality. But then, after a couple weeks of eating poorly cooked fish, she supposed that Zuko didn’t need help in messing tea up.

She quickly faked a smile. “It’s…almost as good as my brother’s stewed sea prunes.” It wasn’t exactly an insult; it was much further away from a compliment. Sokka had attempted it once—and the family had quickly agreed that Katara or Gran-Gran should be the only ones attempting the recipe.

But Zuko gave a small smile at the faked praise of his companions. As Zuko was distracted, Katara saw Iroh pour the second cup of tea out, just before Zuko turned back to him. “So, Uncle, I’ve been thinking. It’s only a matter of time before we run into Azula again. I’m going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her.” Katara found herself nodding, arms folded, as Zuko spoke, recalling her experiences with Zuko’s menace of a sister. If the princess had been simply rude and cruel during the first encounter, she had certainly proven herself to be a threat during the second. Katara thought of the eerie blue fire that Azula had bent and Iroh’s injury. If Zuko wished to continue his training to face his sister again, then he was not the only one. “I know what you’re going to say: she’s my sister and I should be trying to get along with her—"

“No,” Iroh said. “She’s crazy and she needs to go down.” Zuko momentarily looked surprised before nodding. Katara smiled as Iroh stood. “It’s time to resume your training.” Zuko stood. “Go and prepare with your breathing exercises,” Iroh instructed. Zuko gave a stiff nod, glanced at Katara, and walked out of the run-down house to prepare alone. Iroh looked at Katara. “I am surprised you’re still here,” he admitted. “After all this time separated from your brother and friend, I would have thought that you would have left at the first opportunity.”

“I was going to,” Katara agreed. “I would have, but you were hurt. I couldn’t just turn my back on the two of you when you needed me. And we have a plan, now. My friends and I will regroup in Ba Sing Se.” Iroh smiled, dipping his head.

“Thank you, Katara. For everything.”

She smiled, then motioned to his shoulder. “Speaking of your injury, how is it? Does it hurt still? I did everything I could, but there’s only so much that I know…” She didn’t regret learning waterbending from Master Pakku. But she had spent far more time learning combative waterbending than she had spent learning healing. She hoped she wouldn’t need more knowledge than she had—at least, not until after the war, when she would hopefully have more time to explore the art of waterbending.

Iroh moved his arm around a bit. “For being shot with Azula’s fire, it feels quite good.” He frowned. “You may wish to practice your own bending,” he suggested. “Though the way to Ba Sing Se is not so long from here, there is no telling what dangers we may encounter along the way, or once you are reunited with your friends.”

“Azula,” Katara muttered. She crossed her arms. “You really weren’t exaggerating how dangerous she is.”

“No,” Iroh agreed. “But there are others yet who may wish to stop us from reaching our destination; the threat of discovery is ever-present. Foes from the Fire Nation may be the easiest to detect. But my country has made many enemies over the past century. As I believe you and Zuko learned in that village,” he raised a pointed brow, “People in the Earth Kingdom may not look so kindly upon a pair of Fire Nation royals seeking shelter in the Earth Kingdom.” Katara frowned. Iroh placed a hand on her shoulder momentarily. “It doesn’t hurt to be prepared for trouble from unexpected sources.”

He left to train Zuko, and as Katara walked to the nearby stream, her thoughts wandered from Azula, to Zuko, to a boy of the same age, with a charming smile and commanding voice; a boy with a heroic visage hiding hate, deception, and murder in his heart.

She could taste straw in her mouth.

* * *

Toph frowned as she felt Aang collide with Appa. His form had been fine. Unrefined and unpracticed, but decent enough that it should have worked. She felt Sokka looking over at them as they practiced, himself carrying a pot as he set up camp. Toph felt Aang get up from Appa, returning to her and the rock she wanted him to move.

“I don’t get it,” Aang said. “I thought I was doing what you were…the stance and the motion…” She nodded. “Then…maybe if I come at the boulder from another angle?” She felt Twinkletoes dancing around the rock, trying to find some perfect position to bend the rock from.

And that must have been what went wrong. “No,” Toph told him, grabbing onto his clothes to stop him from moving. “That’s the problem. You’ve got to stop thinking like an airbender.” She lightly knocked her fist against Aang’s head a couple times. “There’s no different angle, no clever solution, no trickety-trick that’s going to move that rock.” She pushed him to the ground; his stance was infirm, not at all like an earthbender’s. “You’ve got to face it head on. And when I say head on, I mean like this!” She jumped upon the boulder, smashing it with her fists and feet as Aang let out a surprised shout. This, she felt, captured the essence and spirit of earthbending. Before anything else, Aang had to understand this.

She walked away as she began planning new exercises for Aang. She just needed to push him. He needed to learn to stand his ground—no compromise, or third option.

Thinking fast, she brainstormed the lesson. Soon enough, they were back to training, in slightly different form. Training went smoothly as her new exercises pushed him and he seemed to respond well. But they did not yet reattempt moving a boulder. From afar, Toph felt Sokka watching them; though he hadn’t said anything, Toph couldn’t help but feel that there was some disapproval in him.

* * *

Katara practiced her bending along the stream. She relaxed at first, rehearsing basic katas and forms. She breathed deeply and let the breath out, trying to calm herself from recent events as she practiced. She performed the water whip, the first true technique she had learned. She flowed through the forms and techniques that Master Pakku had taught her, and rehearsed more advanced ones that

As she practiced, her mind wandered through the events of the past couple of months. The raft, slowly bonding with two former enemies. Understanding Zuko, the passionate firebender who never gave up, who displayed his honor time and again while believing he had lost it.

Azula.

Katara gritted her teeth as she thought of Zuko’s sister.

_“He always had a thing for inferior beings.”_

Katara clenched her fist in the middle of her kata; the water rippled and splashed down.

_“The last time I saw her was after the agni kai. She was smiling.”_

_“Azula always lies.”_

Katara pulled some more water from the stream. She attempted the kata again.

_“I see you brought your pet.”_

“Ugh!” Katara swiftly turned the water to ice and launched it into the trunk of a tree. “How can a teenaged girl be so vile? And how can anyone treat their own brother like that!?” She thought of Sokka, who was a massive, immature pain at times; she couldn’t imagine treating him like Azula had been treating Zuko. She couldn’t imagine smiling as he was horrifically maimed in front of her. She whipped her arms up as she ranted to the stream. The stream rippled and shook and from the corner of her eye, she thought saw a patch of flowers move to the direction of her arms. Katara blinked, distracted from her anger by the innocuous movement.

Although a storm was coming in, there had been no wind to match the movement.

Katara walked closer to the plants and knelt down. She touched them. Years ago, her father had taught her and Sokka how to create fresh water from salt water. _“You need water to drink,”_ her father had said. _“There is water in all living things, and without it, you cannot survive for long.”_ Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she put her troubles out of her mind in favor of her experiment. Katara tried to feel the water within the plants, to connect with them in the way she always had with water, snow, and ice. A small breeze blew her hair.

She moved her hand to the left; against the wind, the flowers followed her movement.

* * *

Sokka watched as Toph tried to teach Aang, a frown forming on his face. He crossed his arms as Toph launched a boulder downhill at the Avatar. Sokka stood up and began walking towards them as Aang, instead of earthbending, jumped out of the way at the last moment. Sokka shook his head as Toph began shouting at Aang while he apologized.

“If you’re not tough enough to stop the rock, then you could at least give it the pleasure of smashing you instead of jumping out of the way like a jelly-boned wimp! Now, do you have what it takes to face that rock like an earthbender?”

“Sure, he does,” Sokka said as he reached them. Aang had been in the middle of saying that he didn’t. Sokka put a hand against Aang’s shoulder and glanced at the Avatar’s dejected face. “Ever since I met you, I watched you face down the Fire Nation and pirates and all sorts of other maniacs, all without running away or compromising.” Aang opened his mouth. “No. Just because you don’t get it yet, doesn’t mean you won’t.”

“Nice pep talk,” Toph said. Her arms were crossed. “But Twinkletoes needs to face the rock—”

“Head on, yeah, yeah.” Sokka rolled his eyes. He turned back to Aang. “Go practice your waterbending. You can face the rock later.” Aang nodded, glancing at Toph, before running to the water to practice.

“He’s never going to learn if he keeps thinking like an airbender,” Toph told Sokka. “He can’t keep jumping out of the way!”

“And your shouting and launching boulders at him has been so helpful.” Sokka pinched the bridge of his nose and then crossed his arms. “Look, Aang needs to practice his waterbending. He’s still learning and he needs to practice.” He looked over to see Aang frowning as he practiced. “I can’t teach him any sort of bending, but I can make him stay on task. It’s all I can do.” Sokka sighed. “Can’t you just go a little easier on him? You’ve got to find a way to teach him that doesn’t involve tearing him down.” Toph frowned and crossed her arms, but she seemed to be considering Sokka’s words. Sokka grabbed his boomerang, “I’m going to get something to eat. Do you eat meat?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Aang doesn’t. Says it goes against his spiritual beliefs. Which means I have to cook separately for us.” He frowned, glancing at Toph. “I shouldn’t be gone for long. Just make sure Aang stays on task. And when you try another lesson, maybe don’t terrorize him too much.”

* * *

Katara heard explosions from camp, prompting her to bend the water she been bending back into her waterskin, and run back to the two firebenders. The area had seemed to be entirely deserted, but as she heard the explosions, she worried that the previous assessment had been wrong. What if Azula had returned? She heard another explosion as they came into view.

“Why can’t I do it?” Zuko exclaimed, frustration apparent in his voice. “Instead of lightning, it keeps exploding in my face…like everything always does.” He was frowning. Katara quickly considered the situation, and frowned as she understood; Iroh had attempted to teach Zuko to bend lightning, but Zuko’s attempts had only been failures. The ground was smoking in several places.

“I was afraid this might happen,” Iroh admitted. “You will not be able to master lightning until you have dealt with the turmoil inside you.”

“What turmoil?” Zuko shouted. Katara crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. She wondered if he had even noticed her return yet.

“Zuko, you must let go of your feelings of shame if you want your anger to go away.”

“But I don’t feel any shame at all. I’m as proud as ever!” Katara shook her head; Zuko truly must have mastered the art of self-deception.

“Prince Zuko, pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame,” Iroh explained.

Katara watched as Zuko hesitated. For a moment Zuko glanced at her. He seemed to deflate. “Well, my life has been nothing but humbling lately.”

“I have another idea,” Iroh said. “I will teach you a firebending move that even Azula doesn’t know, because I made it up myself.”

Zuko smiled eagerly at his uncle. Katara walked up to him. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“Only my pride.” Zuko frowned. He folded his arms, glaring at the smoking ground around them. He let out a heated breath, then took another one, shaking his head.

“You’ll get it someday,” Katara said. “You’re too stubborn not to figure it out at some point. Unless you’re actually giving up now?” She said this with a teasing smirk.

Zuko jerked his head up. He shook his head. “And you? How did your practice go?”

“I’ve had more productive sessions,” she admitted. “I was…distracted. But I think I may’ve discovered something unique of my own.” Zuko glanced at her with interest. “I think I can waterbend plants.” Zuko’s eyes widened and Iroh, who had been making tea, looked over to her. “Well, sort of. I just noticed that some plants followed my movements, and I figured that since all life has water in it, then maybe I could bend them.”

“An astute inference,” Iroh told her. “Though I haven’t heard of plants being bent in such a manner.”

Zuko was still staring, a light frown returning to his face. Katara glanced at him, wondering if he was, once again, comparing his bending with hers. “It wasn’t much,” she admitted. “I’ll have to practice a lot more, if I want to use it in any way.” She hoped that Zuko would understand that she hadn’t instantly mastered it.

Zuko just frowned harder and opened his mouth to say something, but then shook his head. “So, Uncle, what is this move you want to teach me?”

Iroh grinned.

* * *

Aang practiced his waterbending without enthusiasm. He thought of his failures with the rocks, before his thoughts wandered to Katara. She had always been fun to practice with, even before she had surpassed him in waterbending. Waterbending had been nowhere near as difficult for him. Not so easy as air, his native element, but it had come to him without much effort. Why was earthbending so hard?

A stone flew by him, landing with a _thwump_ in the water. Aang turned around to see Toph carrying his glider along with a bag. Aang frowned. “What was that for? And what’re you doing with my glider?”

“Just keeping you awake, Twinkletoes. And I figured you wouldn’t mind sharing your fancy nutcracker, since you’re such a pushover.”

Pushover? _Nutcracker?_ Aang flinched as she removed a nut from the bag and hit it with his glider. “Actually, I’d prefer if you didn’t…” Crack. “That’s an antique, handcrafted by the monks…” Crack. “It’s a delicate instrument!” It was one of his only possessions left from his old life—did she not understand how important his glider was to him?

“It’s not the only delicate instrument around here,” was Toph’s response. She turned and walked away, whacking the glider against rocks and weeds as she left. Aang stared after her for a moment before gritting his teeth and tossing down the water he had been bending.

He wanted Bumi. Crazy, brilliant Bumi, who was one of his greatest friends. He wanted Gyatso. He wanted Katara.

He didn’t particularly want Pakku back, but still.

Toph was supposed to teach him earthbending, but he just couldn’t learn. He couldn’t do it. _“You have to face it like a rock!”_ But it was so contrary to his every instinct. Finally, Aang came out of the water, looking around for Sokka. Failing to see him, Aang felt a moment of panic, Aang quickly looked around again before running up to Toph.

“Have you seen Sokka?” he asked her. She took her time chewing on a nut. Aang gritted his teeth before shouting. “I said, have you seen Sokka?”

“Hello, blind. I’ve never seen anyone.”

“You know what I mean! Where is he?”

She chewed on another nut. “He said he was going hunting, to try and find something to eat.” She pointed. “He went out that way.” Aang shot her an irritated glance before running off in search of his friend.

Toph smiled behind him.

* * *

Zuko sat on the dirt across from his uncle, who had grabbed a stick in preparation for the lesson. Iroh glanced at Katara and waved to her. “You may wish to listen to this as well. Perhaps you will learn as well.” Katara sat down across from Iroh, Zuko moving a bit to the left to make room.

Iroh took the stick and began drawing in the dirt as he spoke. He began with the symbol of the Fire Nation. “Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy to drive and achieve what they want.” Katara glanced at Zuko, thinking of his pursuit of Aang, not giving up after three years in the name of returning home—to a father who didn’t deserve him. Iroh continued, drawing each symbol as he spoke of the element. “The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Also, they apparently had a pretty good sense of humor!” Katara smiled, thinking of Aang. “The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.” Katara smiled and nodded at Iroh’s description of her people. She thought of her father, gone for two years to fight the Fire Nation. She thought of her mother, who had been the only one lost in that last Fire Nation raid. She thought of Gran-Gran, born in the North and fled to the South.

“Why are you telling me these things?” Zuko asked.

“It is important to draw wisdom from many places,” Iroh said. “If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale.” Iroh drew lines separating the elements and a circle around them. “Understanding others, the other elements, and other nations will help you become whole.”

“Like the Avatar!” Katara said. Zuko had been beginning to say something, but he glanced at Katara and just nodded.

“It is the combination of the four elements in one person that makes the Avatar so powerful. But it can make you more powerful, too.” He was now looking solely at Zuko. “You see, the technique I’m about to teach you is one I learned by studying the waterbenders.” Zuko’s eyes widened for a moment, glancing at Katara. She smiled for a moment.

“Do you know many waterbenders?” she asked.

“I’ve gotten to know a few over the years. And waterbenders have made for some of the best pai sho players I’ve ever gotten to play with.”

Zuko blinked. “Pai sho?” he asked Katara. She just shrugged.

* * *

Toph followed Aang as he searched for Sokka. Close enough for her to have a clear feel of what was happening, far enough that Aang wouldn’t know she was there. Aang had been closer to the mentality he would need earlier and despite Aang’s desire to find a third option or run away, she was certain that he could find his footing. Aang looked for Sokka around the area of the camp before venturing further away. Finally, she felt Sokka—somehow stuck partially underground. Nearby, there was a saber-tooth moose-lion cub. She snorted, shaking her head.

She watched and listened as Aang found Sokka. He couldn’t pull him out of the ground, nor could he airbend him out. Finally, Sokka suggested that Aang go get her—the only good idea so far.

“I can’t do that either,” Aang told Sokka. Toph crossed her arms as she listened.

“You can’t? Why not?”

“It would just be really…uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable? Well, I wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.” Toph smirked as she heard the comment. “Look, I get that she’s kind of crazy, but Toph is your teacher and you have to listen to her. You can’t avoid her forever just because she demands a lot.”

“Can I avoid her for an afternoon?”

“No!”

“She just expects me to get it right away. But I can’t!”

“Well, you can’t just leave me here, either. And since you can’t get me out, that means you need to talk to the person who can.” Toph felt the saber-tooth moose-lion cub walking between the boys. Not far off, she felt the mother, much larger and in a frenzy. She heard Sokka introduce the cub to Aang with a truly ridiculous name. Aang commented on the creature being a saber-tooth moose-lion, wondering where its mother was.

As if on cue, the mother appeared, large and in a rage, charging at the boys. Toph momentarily considered helping them—after all, Sokka was entirely helpless. But then she sat down to watch how Aang would handle it. He had shown promise before, in his badgering her to become his master, in his decision to confront Azula after she had chased them all night, and when he had demanded to know where Sokka had gone. Perhaps, she thought, he may find his will to stand his ground with his friend trapped and in danger.

Aang initially attempted to dodge the beast’s charges, knocking it over his head with airbending. Aang leapt onto a nearby rock, trying to distract it from Sokka. Aang jumped back to Sokka, landing beside him.

“Please don’t leave me again,” Sokka said, helpless fear in his voice.

“I won’t,” Aang promised. Toph smirked. Instead of running or jumping away, Aang braced himself, planting his feet firmly on the ground next to Sokka. This time, when the saber-tooth moose-lion charge, Aang waited until it was close, then blasted it away with air. The beast backed off, choosing to leave rather than face Aang again.

Toph clapped and she felt Aang turn around to look at her. Sokka, for his part, tried to turn his head in her direction, but his movement was too restricted to fully look at her. “What are you doing here?” he asked anyways.

“Just enjoying the show,” she told them.

“What?” Aang sounded indignant and mildly outraged. “You were there the whole time?!”

“Pretty much.”

“Why didn’t you do something? Sokka was in trouble! I was in trouble! You could have gotten him out and helped us get away.”

“Guess it just didn’t occur to me.” Toph grabbed a nut from the bag, tossed it to the ground, and prepared to whack it with Aang’s staff.

But before she could do it, Aang grabbed ahold of the staff. “ _Enough!_ I want my staff back!” He yanked it out of her hand.

This was it, Toph felt. He was ready. “Do it now!” she commanded.

“What?” Now Aang had switched to confusion.

“Earthbend, Twinkletoes. You just stood your ground against a crazy beast. And even more impressive, you stood your ground against me. You’ve got stuff.”

“But—”

“Do it!”

Not arguing with her anymore, Aang slammed his foot to the ground; a rock shot out against the canyon wall.

“You did it! You’re an earthbender,” she congratulated him. Granted, he wasn’t a particularly good earthbender—yet—and she was now beginning to understand that teaching Aang earthbending may not be as easy as learning it had been for her. Still, Aang had at least managed to move a rock.

“I can’t believe it!” Aang was excited, and Toph couldn’t help but feel happy for her student. It was the most basic of lessons, and he had a long way to go, but at least he had proven capable of channeling the mentality of the earth. It was a start.

“Aww, this is a really wonderful, touching moment,” Sokka interrupted. “So could you get me out of here so I could give you both a big, snuggly hug?”

Now reinvigorated, Aang turned to Sokka. “No problem, Sokka!”

“Actually,” Toph quickly intervened. “you should probably let me do that. You’re still a little new to this. You might accidentally crush him.”

“Yeah, no crushing please,” Sokka said.

With ease, Toph slammed her foot down, forcing the earth up and apart to release Sokka. Once freed, he immediately fell to the ground. Aang knelt beside him.

“Are you okay?” Aang asked.

“Well, my legs feel like snow slush,” Sokka responded as he got to his knees. “I’ll be fine Aang.”

“How long were you in there?” Toph asked.

“It happened almost immediately after I went looking for food.” Aang help Sokka to his feet. “I guess we’re all eating vegetarian tonight.”

The trio walked back to their camp.

* * *

“Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy,” Uncle Iroh instructed. Zuko listened as Iroh explained it. To the side, Katara watched as the firebenders discussed her element. “A waterbender lets their defense become their offense, turning their opponent’s energy against them. I learned a way to do this with lightning.”

“You can teach me to redirect lightning?” Zuko clarified. He had never heard of such a technique—not even by Azula. But then, Iroh had said that he had created the technique.

“That will be a very useful technique in the fight against Azula,” Katara said. Zuko looked at her. There seemed to be a new resoluteness in her. She looked at him. “Azula can shoot all the lightning she likes at you, but if you learn to redirect it…”

“She won’t know hits her,” Zuko said. Katara smiled. Zuko looked back to his uncle, who was looking at the two teenagers critically.

“Indeed,” Iroh agreed. “If you let the energy in your own body flow, the lightning will follow it. You must create a pathway from your fingertips, up your arm to your shoulder, then down into your stomach. The stomach is the source of energy in your body. It’s called the sea of chi. Only in my case it’s more like an ocean.” Iroh laughed and Zuko saw Katara give a small, amused smile. “From the stomach, you redirect it up again, and out the other arm. The stomach detour is critical. You must not let the lightning pass through your heart, or the damage could be deadly.” Katara frowned at Iroh’s warning, and her eyes met Zuko’s for a moment. “You may wish to try a physical motion, to get a feel for the pathways’ flow, like this.” Iroh made a motion, guiding his fingers along the path; Zuko copied.

“You really did pick this up from my people,” Katara noted. She smirked, folding her arms.

Zuko glanced at her, but focused on trying to feel the pathways of chi within him. They attempted this for a few minutes before Iroh said, “Excellent! You’ve got it!”

Zuko felt a surge of pride. “Great! I’m ready to try it with real lightning!”

At once, Iroh and Katara’s expressions changed to bafflement and horror. “What, are you crazy?!” Iroh asked. “Lightning is very dangerous!”

“I thought that was the point!” Zuko snapped. “You teaching me to protect myself from it!”

“Yeah,” Iroh retorted. “But I’m not going to shoot lightning at you! If you’re lucky, you will never have to use it at all!”

But when had he ever been lucky? _“Your sister was born lucky. You were lucky to be born.”_ He thought of Azula, dangerous, deceitful Azula. She had already hurt his Uncle. He clenched his fist.

“Well, if you won’t help me, I’ll find my own lightning!” But before he could hop onto the ostrich-horse, a smaller hand had grasped his wrist. He whipped around, and found himself looking into Katara’s eyes. Her grasp was light, but somehow firm. For a moment, he stared into her eyes; they reminded him of life on the ship, like the many months of staring out into the ocean. Quickly, Katara withdrew her hand.

“You can’t just run off to find lightning! Where will you even—?” A sound of thunder came from the distance.

“I’ll just follow the clouds.”

“And then what?” Katara asked. “Stand around hoping to be hit? What if it doesn’t work? What if—what if.” She took a deep breath, shaking her head. Zuko hesitated, stepping away from the ostrich-horse. Her cheeks were pinker than they had been a few minutes ago.

“Are you okay?” he asked, frowning and avoiding looking at her eyes.

“Are you kidding me? You’re talking about getting hit with lightning to practice a technique you just learnt!” She crossed her arms. Before Zuko could say anything, she continued. “Would you consider a different idea?”

Zuko crossed his own arms; a mirror of the waterbender in front of him. He blinked, suddenly noticing how close they were standing. Katara took a step back, looking to the side for a moment. “Lightning redirection works like waterbending, right? Well, I can’t shoot lightning at you for practice, but I can walk you through the motions. And the flow of energy.”

Zuko blinked. “So…you’re offering to teach me waterbending?” It was an absurd sentence.

Katara hesitated before giving an odd shrug. “Or the firebending equivalent. And isn’t that what your uncle was trying to teach us? We can both learn from each other.” She frowned, serious again. “I’ll teach you waterbending, if you teach me firebending.” Zuko’s eyes widened. “I’m not getting caught off guard again. And considering all of our enemies…”

Zuko looked at her and found himself nodding. “We can practice together.”

“Lightning free?”

Zuko gritted his teeth, briefly looking out to the storm. “I’m sure my time will come.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This version is officially caught up to the version on FF. net. Updates will be taking longer from here on out.


	18. Part 3 Chapter 2: Brothers and a Library

Toph landed on the ground, her feet giving her a view of everything around them. Beside her was Aang, pulling out an instrument, and Sokka, arms crossed. Appa was the largest lifeform around. At least they had gotten a new saddle fixed for him; the only feeling worse than flying was flying without any sort of security, the intense feeling that one's grip would slip and one would fall to their deaths at any moment.

She liked Appa well enough. But flying on him saddleless was not an experience she wanted to repeat.

Aside from her friends, though, Toph could feel hundreds of tunnels in the area, brimming with life. Little creatures, scurrying around. Was this what Aang had brought them out here for?

"What's out here?" Sokka asked. Of course, he couldn't 'see' what she could.

She placed her hand on the ground, trying to get a better sense of the creatures. "A lot, actually," she told him. "There's hundreds of little—"

"Shh!" Aang interrupted her. "I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise. Just watch." Aang blew a note on the flute. To Toph's surprise, one of the creatures sprung from the ground, echoing Aang's note with its own voice. "Yeah!" Aang played another note, which the creature also echoed. "I'm putting an orchestra together."

But Sokka wasn't impressed. "Orchestra, huh? Well, la-di-da." As if to mock him, three of the creatures echoed his sounds. Aang began playing new notes, which the creatures tried to echo, but Momo, realizing their presence, leapt after them, chasing them when they came out of their holes. Aang attempted to play another note, but this time, Sokka plugged the end of it. Toph could feel the two boys staring at each other for a moment before Sokka spoke again, his tone unamused. "This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans."

"We _did_ make plans," Toph reminded him, coming to Aang's aid. "We're all picking mini-vacations."

"There's no time for vacations."

Aang spoke for himself, defending their decision. "I'm learning the elements as fast as I can, Sokka. I practice hard every day with Toph. I've been training my arrow off!" It was true, Toph noted. In the days since he had first learned to move a rock, he and Toph had spent hours each day training. He was a good student, once he learned to stand his ground. He absorbed the knowledge like a sponge did water. He also spent many hours practicing waterbending. He was entirely set on learning all four elements by summer. It sounded ridiculous when he first said so, but Toph was beginning to wonder if he wouldn't actually manage it.

"You know we've been training hard," Toph said, crossing her arms. "Aang is making good progress. And everyone needs to get out and have some fun sometimes. We have time to get to Ba Sing Se."

But Sokka was not persuaded. "Even if you manage to master all the elements," he said to Aang, "then what? It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation." He made exaggerated motions as he spoke. "Should we just head west until we reach the Firelord's house?" He made a knocking motion. "Knock, knock. Hello, Firelord? Anybody home? I don't think so. We need some intelligence if we're going to win this war."

He had a point, maybe. But Toph couldn't agree that it was so pressing. Aang still had to master three elements. What was the rush to plan everything out?

Aang put the flute aside, crossing his own arms for a long moment. Then, quietly, "Maybe we could ask Zuko?"

There was a pause. "No," Sokka said bluntly. "We can't ask Zuko for help. He's the enemy."

"Is he though?" Toph couldn't help but ask. "He didn't exactly seem to be on good terms with the Fire Nation."

Aang nodded. "Katara said that Zuko and his uncle are fugitives from the Fire Nation now. Maybe, if they had a falling out with the Firelord or something…"

"No!" Sokka said. "Look, just because they somehow managed to get in trouble with their relatives, doesn't mean that they are on our side. They're still Fire Nation."

"But it's not like everyone from the Fire Nation is evil, Sokka," Aang said. "You know that. Or why did you stop Jet's plot?" Toph frowned. Who? _Ugh. So this is what happens when you join the party late._ Was she ever going to catch up with all these past adventures?

Whatever happened with this Jet guy, it certainly didn't seem to sit well with Sokka. "This is nothing like that, Aang." He let out a frustrated breath. "I'm just saying, Zuko and this uncle of his are Fire Nation royalty. Old men with walking sticks and little kids may not be our enemy, but Zuko certainly is."

"Your sister disagrees," Toph said. "Look, I may not have the same history with this Zuko as you guys did, but from what I do know of him, he doesn't actually seem that bad." She heard a scandalized squeak from Sokka. "He saved Katara, remember? If it weren't for him, your sister really would be dead. And then he didn't hurt her, or she wouldn't have wanted to help him and his uncle. Not to mention, he did help us fight his sister." She shrugged. "I'm just saying, asking him and his uncle for help seems like as good an idea as any."

"It's different for you," Sokka said, quieter than before. "You didn't get chased all over the world by him." But she felt him glance towards Aang, who looked down at the ground.

"I don't know," Aang said. "Maybe I'm just being optimistic because Katara befriended him. But sometimes I feel almost connected to him. I don't understand it, really. I guess I just wish that I could somehow work things out so we wouldn't be enemies." There was a silence lingering over them for a few long moments before Sokka sighed. Toph could feel him pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Connected," he said slowly. "And, of course, this 'connection' can't be any clearer. Is this more spirit stuff?" Toph had no experience with their spirit world experiences. Sokka had mentioned being abducted by a spirit and taken to the spirit world. The Avatar was the bridge between their world and the spirit world. But Toph had never had any experience with it herself. "Have you considered that Zuko could just be another enemy?"

"Well, he never felt like just another enemy," Aang said. "I just don't know, Sokka. But now that he's on the run from the Fire Nation, and Katara's his friend, I thought, maybe he had a change of heart. Or something."

"Or maybe it's just because of what happened at the North Pole. With…with Yue, and Zhao." _More unfamiliar names. They realize I have no clue what they're talking about? Never mind. If it's important, I'll learn about it._

"Sokka…" Aang walked closer to his friend.

"It's fine. Just…just take your vacation. I'll still be working on a plan."

It was all quiet for a moment. Toph was divided on whether to ignore the exchange or ask what else had happened at the North Pole. But Aang turned back to her, offering her what she could only assume to be a map. "Forgetting something?" she asked, trying to diffuse the mood of the last few minutes. She waved at her own face.

"Oh, right." Aang sounded embarrassed. "Uh, how should we…?"

"Just start listing places," she told him. "If you know any good spots, let me know what there is to do there."

Aang did as she said, pointing to various places nearby, telling her anything notable about each place. Toph listened patiently. Finally, he reached a town near the Si Wong Desert. Lu Sai. "A few cantinas, and lots of gambling," Aang said, quickly moving onto the next one. But Toph was grinning.

"Sounds like fun."

"Really?" She felt Aang looking at her, then looking back to the map. "You mean Lu Sai?"

"Sure! You know, I saw these games in my Blind Bandit outings. I never really took the time to play back then, but I did see how the games work."

"Badly," Sokka interjected. She could feel the disapproval rolling off from him. "Maybe things were different for you, considering your parents' wealth, but we have a very finite amount of money, Toph. We can't squander our money on gambling."

"I know," she retorted. She smirked. "But I also know that most betting games are rigged. I can see them—I can beat them. So let's go to Lu Sai, with your finite bag of coins. We can leave with twenty."

* * *

Lu Sai was a small town by Earth Kingdom standards. There wasn't much to say about it. It wasn't a great stronghold. It was not any great achievement of architecture or city planning; buildings were boring and bare. There was no wise king ruling over it. The population was small—not too surprising, considering that the town bordered the Si Wong Desert.

What the town did have was gambling.

Yes, they certainly had that.

Sokka wasn't sure what to think of Toph's chosen vacation. At first glance, it was a pretty terrible idea. They didn't have much money to begin with. And then to go around betting it? It was asking for trouble. Sokka was certain that Katara wouldn't approve in the slightest. _Oh man_ , he thought as he hung out and watched Toph and Aang swindle another of the gambling gamemasters, _how am I ever going to explain this one to her?_

On the other hand, Toph had been entirely correct about her ability to cheat the cheaters. She had taken their pouch of money and turned it into ten pouches. Sokka couldn't help but smirk. It was good to not be in a worry over their budget. Plus, the men they played were jerks. He knew they took one look at Toph, at her eyes, and thought they had found an easy target. Yeah, it was pretty satisfying to see them knocked down a peg. Not to mention how much Aang seemed to be enjoying it, too. It was good to them getting to be kids. He was older than them when his father had told him to stay home with Katara and Gran-Gran.

He let out a breath, shaking his head.

He looked over to his friends again. Past them, he saw one of the men they'd scammed glaring at them, and speaking to another man. "Oh, great," he groaned, slapping his forehead. Trying to be discreet, he walked over to his friends, glancing again at the men. Another of their past opponents had joined the conversation, pointing at them. Reaching them, Sokka put a hand on both of their shoulders. "I think it's time to leave," he said quietly, nodding his head over to their audience.

"Huh?" Aang asked, looking over. "Oh."

"Yeah. Come on."

"But we bet a bag on this game," Toph argued quietly.

"So we cut our losses," Sokka told them. He felt a bit of a headache. Were he and Aang this much of a handful for Katara? "We have enough problems without getting into fights over gambling, okay?" Toph still grumbled, but both of the twelve-year-olds followed Sokka outside.

The sun reigned down oppressively; though they weren't technically within the Si Wong Desert, it was only by strict technicality. There weren't any clouds that Sokka could see. He looked to Appa. He turned to Toph, holding out on of the bags. "Could you get us some water and rice before we leave? Be careful."

"Right on it, Dad." Sokka scowled at the sarcastic appellation. He shook his head, looking over to Aang. Aang, in turn, was looking out to the entrance of Lu Sai. "Is everything okay?" He turned to look at what Aang was looking at.

There was a man sitting on the ground. He had the typical long, dark hair or the Earth Kingdom, worn in a messy top knot. His clothes were coated in the desert's sands. His face was in his hands, and Sokka could see him shaking his head to himself. "That man's been there since we got here," Aang told Sokka, concern apparent on his face. "And he looks really upset about something."

Sokka let out a breath. "And you want to go over and solve all his problems." It was exactly the sort of thing Aang would do. It was sweet. Annoying sometimes, but sweet.

Aang smiled. "If I can." He went over to the man, Sokka just behind him. Now that they were closer, Sokka could see that the man was close to his own age, perhaps just a few years older. He looked up as they approached, light green eyes widening. At once, he tried to regain his composure, but Sokka could tell that he had been crying before anyone had come up to him. "Hi. This is Sokka, and I'm Aang. I'm the Avatar." The world's youngest miracle-worker.

The man eyed him, raising an eyebrow incredulously as he listened to Aang's introduction. "That's…uh." But he just shook his head, groaning. "That's good for you, really. But if you don't mind, I'd really rather be alone right now." He looked around, perhaps for a more private place to mope.

"No," Aang said. "Don't you get it, I can help you with whatever your problem is!" Aang was grinning. Sokka folded his arms; sometimes there was no miracle cure. But he didn't want to upset Aang with that harsh lesson.

The man scrunched his eyebrows. He let out a frustrated laugh. "That's nice. But I really don't think my problem is the sort you can solve. I've heard the stories about you. But there's no Fire Nation maniac, no spirit world miscommunication. Just one brother dumber than the rocks he bends."

Sokka snorted. "He's not trying to kill you, is he?"

The man's eyes widened. He clenched his fist, standing up. "No, Rahen isn't trying to kill me. But if he's alive, and I ever find him, I just may kill him myself! Does he have any idea how worried I am about him?" The man clenched and unclenched his fists, glaring at the sky.

"Yeah," Sokka said. "I know that feeling."

Aang frowned. "So…you lost your brother? I mean, actually _lost_ him, and now you can't find him?"

The man waved to the side. "Rahen got _himself_ lost," the man said, irritation in his voice. "He insisted on pursuing some crazy Fire Nation officer out here. I couldn't talk him out of it—spirits know, I tried. Over and over. But he was dead set on following the man out here."

"Out here as in…" Sokka looked outside the town.

"In the desert! What was he thinking?!" The man closed his eyes, frustration still written on his face. He sighed, looking dejected. "At least he used to come home. But not anymore. Over the past year, he never returned. And I don't know if he's just lost, or if he's…if he's…"

"We can help!" Aang said, a grin appearing on his face. Sokka even found himself nodding. After all, he knew a thing or two about disappearing siblings.

The man's eyes widened. "What?"

"We have a sky bison." Aang pointed to Appa.

"If we fly over the desert, we'll cover more ground than you could ever hope to on foot," Sokka told him.

"I…you would do that?" The man straightened himself, and bowed to Aang. "Thank you, Avatar. I never even introduced myself, did I? My name is Li Han." He tried pushing some loose hair from his face. It was obvious now that he had attempted to find his brother in the desert himself.

"Come on!" Aang waved him over to Appa. Toph had returned and was frowning at them from afar.

Sokka looked at Li Han. "You heard him. Let's go."

Li Han walked beside him, looking slightly apprehensive at the sight of Appa. He let out a breath. "I hope this isn't taking you out of your way. I know the Avatar has far more important things to do than look for my brother…"

"Hey. Aang likes to help people when he can," Sokka told him. He stopped beside Appa, looking at Li Han for a moment. "And I've had my own experience with a missing sibling, so I know how it is. We'll find Rahen if we can." He climbed on top of Appa, helping Li Han get onto the saddle.

Toph was already there, sitting and frowning slightly. "This is going to end up being one of your crazy adventures, isn't it? This how it tends to start?" But Sokka thought he heard some amusement in her voice.

Sokka gave her a half-smile. "I'm glad you learn fast." He should have known their vacation would get complicated somehow.

In moments, they were off the ground, soaring towards the desert.

* * *

Aang guided Appa through the desert, his own eyes attentive as they searched for Li Han's lost brother.

The Si Wong Desert was a beast of little comparison. Aang could feel the dryness of the air. He licked his lips; it almost felt like the air had drained the water out of his own skin. There were few clouds in the sky, and what few clouds were present were tiny, fragile little things. Far below them, Aang could see endless sand dunes. It would be easy to get lost, they all looked the same to him. Li Han's brother was crazy to try exploring it on foot.

There had yet to be any sign of Rahen.

As Aang and Sokka looked, Toph talked to Li Han. It wasn't as though there was anything else for her to do while they searched.

"So what's your brother's deal, anyways? Why would he follow some Fire Nation guy all the way out here?" she asked him. Aang listened, curious about it himself.

Li Han glanced at them, before turning back to look for his brother down below. "He commanded an attack on our village, many years ago. I was just a child back then. Rahen was older. He wasn't skilled enough in his earthbending yet to put up much of a fight, though he was old enough to drag me out." Li Han was quiet for a moment. "The commander was so…so destructive. It wasn't enough to take our town—no, he burned it all to the ground. There were so many people lost…so many trapped in flames. He took no prisoners. Our parents…" Aang looked back at Li Han sympathetically. Even though it had happened many years ago, it was clear that the young man was still scarred from the experience. After a few moments, he let out a breath. "Rahen dragged me out, and we watched from the trees on the outskirts of town. But we had to flee, too, unless we burned with the town and surrounding forest. It was just us then. For many years, as we grew up. I've tried to move on. But Rahen remembered that Fire Nation commander. And he has been obsessive in his search out here."

"Why here, though?" Sokka asked him. "There's nothing out here that the Fire Nation would be interested in."

"I have no idea," Li Han said, his voice turning to a baffled whine at the end. He put his face in his hands for a moment. He looked up again. "He just said he found that the commander spent a lot of time out here. For…whatever reason somebody might want to be here. I've had no real leads for my brother until now. And I'm not exactly a master tracker," he admitted. "I'm an architect, or a student architect anyways. I have no bending ability, or military experience…I spent the last few weeks going out to try to find him, but I could never make it far into the desert before I'd run out of supplies, or get lost." He took a deep breath, shaking his head. "I can't thank you enough for your help."

They continued looking, the sun slowly moving across the sky. Perhaps an hour later, Sokka pointed below. "There's someone down there!"

Li Han moved over, looking down where Sokka was pointing. He squinted for a moment. "That's him! That's Rahen!" Excitement and relief rang through his voice. He turned to Aang. "Can you please take us down?" But Aang was already moving Appa downwards.

Rahen paused in his steps, looking up at them in awe as they landed. He was older than Li Han, in his mid-twenties. His hair was cut short, and he sported a short beard. His eyes widened as he recognized Li Han. "Li? What are you doing here?" He walked up to Li Han, who quickly embraced his older brother. Aang grinned at the brothers' reunion.

After a moment, though, Li Han stepped back from the hug, glaring at Rahen. He poked Rahen in the chest repeatedly as he spoke. "You stupid, stupid son of a—what were you thinking? Have you seriously been out here the entire time? Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you?!" Li Han scowled at his brother, making to poke him again.

Rahen caught his wrist before he could. "You shouldn't have come out here," he told his brother. "It's not safe."

"Yeah," Sokka said. "That's kinda why your brother had us look for you."

Rahen turned to glare at him, ignoring his brother's own look. "I don't need your help. I need to find whatever it is that Commander Zhao was looking for." Aang's eyes widened. He looked at Sokka.

Sokka's eyes narrowed, his fist clenched. "Sorry—did you just say Zhao? As in Admiral Zhao?"

Rahen stepped towards him, ignoring everyone else. "He was a commander, the last time I'd seen him. You know of him?"

"He's dead," Sokka told him. "But not before wreaking havoc on the Northern Water Tribe." Aang frowned. He knew that Sokka had more on his mind than just the destruction caused to the northern tribe. Yue. Of course Sokka wouldn't be happy for Zhao's name to come up again.

"He is dead, then?" Rahen said. He looked to the side for a moment.

Li Han walked up to him again. This time his demeanor was less upset. "He is dead," he repeated his brother's words. "It doesn't matter why he was out here, Rahen. There's no reason for you to keep searching. We can go home." _It would be the easiest thing to do_ , Aang thought.

But Rahen's eyes hardened. "No," he said. "I can't go home yet. Not until I know what it was that drew Zhao here for so long." _But when had they ever done things the easy way?_ Aang glanced at Sokka, but his friend was frowning absently. Aang wondered what he was thinking.

"I hate to break it to you," Toph said from Appa's saddle. She had jumped down onto the sand momentarily, before quickly getting back onto the saddle. "But there's nothing out here. It's a giant mass of sand. Maybe this Zhao guy was just crazy."

"No." Sokka finally looked up to them, a determined expression on his face. "Zhao may have been crazy in his own way, but he was good at achieving his goals…no matter how bad they may be. If he was out here, there was a good reason for it." He stopped, looking over to Aang. His eyes softened for a moment. "I think Rahen's right. We should look into what Zhao was doing out here."

Li Han gave an undignified squeak, while his brother grinned victoriously. "I'm glad you see the importance of this."

Li Han shook his head incredulously, looking back and forth between Aang and Sokka. "Shouldn't we leave the desert?" he asked Aang. "I brought water, but it will only last so long out here. We can't spend our time looking for the mysteries of a dead man." His eyes implored Aang to put his foot down, to take them out of the desert.

But Aang looked to Sokka, whose own stare pleaded with him to let them do this. Aang paused, thinking of how Sokka had fallen so quickly for Yue. How Zhao had killed the Moon Spirit, resulting in Yue's sacrifice. He thought of how heartbroken Sokka was, how he would stay up on the nights of full moons to stare at them. Aang nodded. "It can't hurt," he said. "To spend a little time searching for…I don't know. Anything out of place. And we can search far better on Appa, anyways." One by one, they got onto Appa, Li Han looking apprehensive. Rahen was more fascinated by Appa, and by Aang as he introduced them.

"Ugh," Toph said. "Do we really need to look for whatever this Zhao guy was doing out here?"

"Yes," Sokka told her, taking Appa's reins. Aang stayed by Toph in the saddle, ignoring the quiet argument between the brothers in the back of the saddle. "We do." He looked back at them for a moment, face falling. "Think of it as my vacation. We're doing those, right?"

"This is your idea of a vacation?" Toph asked him, disbelief in her voice. She sat back against the edge of the saddle. "Aren't vacations supposed to be fun?"

"Toph," Aang said, turning his attention to her. "This is personal."

She was quiet for a moment, face scrunching slightly. "You mentioned a Zhao, earlier. Same guy?"

"Yeah," Aang told her. "It didn't end well."

"Obviously. So what's got Sokka so dead set on finding out what he was doing in the desert?"

Aang winced, looking over to Sokka. He was flying Appa, focused on searching the desert, rather than what his friends were saying in the saddle. He turned back to Toph, speaking very quietly. "He fell in love with Yue, the princess of the Northern Water Tribe. But Zhao sort of killed her." He rubbed the back of his head. "It's actually way more complicated than that, but the point is that Zhao's actions caused her to die. Sokka was really torn up about it."

Toph was quiet for a long moment as she processed it. "Wow. You guys really did have a bad time at the North Pole. So, this Zhao guy died there, too?"

Aang frowned, a sick feeling forming in his stomach. "Actually," he said. "I'm not entirely sure he's dead…"

"But Sokka said…what happened then?"

"I did. Or the Ocean Spirit did." Aang let out a breath. "It's like we merged for a little bit. I remember the Ocean Spirit grabbing him, dragging him off…"

"Underwater?"

"No," Aang said. "It felt deeper than that." He shivered. "Whatever happened to him, I don't think we'll ever see him again." But he wasn't dead. Aang wasn't sure how he knew it, but somehow he was sure that La hadn't killed him. He was still alive…

Somewhere.

* * *

In the back of the saddle, Li Han argued with his brother.

"Ever since our parents died, you've been obsessed with this man," he accused him. He glared at Rahen. "He's dead. Whatever he did out here, it didn't help him in the end. And it can't help our parents."

"Zhao killed our parents!" Rahen whisper-shouted at him. As if that were somehow news to Li Han. "You can't expect me to forget that." His bushy eyebrows emphasized his scowl. Li Han was not impressed.

"I expect he killed a lot of people's parents. But you don't see a horde of angry orphans wandering the desert. Just you. Why can't you let this go?" Rahen didn't answer him. Li Han let out a breath. "You know, I've tried to build a life for us. Me. Why did you leave me to try building this without you? So many times, while you were off getting into trouble, and I'd do all the work. I won't blame you for wanting some sort of closure. But have you ever considered that I may one day get sick of waiting for you? You haven't kept in contact with me at all for the past year. Why do you think I'm out here? I had to know if you were safe, if you were even still, still…" He struggled to say the word, shaking his head. He looked out at the infinite desert. Just what did his brother hope to find?

Rahen's eyes softened. He let out a breath, placing a hand on his brother's knee. "I'm fine, brother. I've had a lot of experience surviving out here. I'm not going to leave you just yet."

Li Han looked back to him. "Well maybe I'm ready to leave you. You're all I've ever had, you know. I can't remember our parents' faces…only yours. But if I can't rely on you to be around, then I think it's time I moved on. Built my life, find a partner, maybe, find what family I can. Without you."

Rahen winced. "You'd cut me out of your life? After everything?"

"How can I?" Li Han bit out, clutching his tunic with his fingers. "You already did."

Perhaps Rahen would have responded. But before either brother could say anything, Sokka pointed something out amongst the dunes. "Down there, what's that?"

Everyone beside Toph looked out. There, within the infinite dunes, was a lone tower. Li Han blinked. What was this building? To Li Han's knowledge, there were no significant outposts in the Si Wong Desert. And none of the tribes he knew of in the area built structures such as the one below.

"Take us down," the Avatar said to his friend. Within moments, they landed close to the strange tower. Li Han frowned. Something about the tower seemed almost strange to him. As the Avatar, his friends, and Rahen got off from the bison, Li Han found himself dismounting as well, squinting his eyes as he tried to discern what it was about the place that bothered him.

Sokka took the lead. "This is really out of place, isn't it? What's a tower like this doing in the middle of the desert?" The Avatar shrugged. Sokka turned to Rahen and Li Han. "Do either of you know about any outpost in the desert that would have a building like this?"

Rahen shook his head. "No. The Earth Kingdom mostly leaves the sandbender tribes to themselves. This is their land, nobody else wants it." He scowled. "I've never seen an Earth Kingdom tower that looks like this one, anyways."

Li Han's eyes widened. "The architecture," he murmured. He blinked, reevaluating the tower with a closer eye. Then, louder, "I've never seen a building with this architectural style. Not Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe, or Fire Nation." He squinted. "What is this place?"

"Uh, guys?" The Avatar pointed to a dune behind them. Li Han stared in shock as a fox trotted down, a scroll in its mouth. It went past them, ignoring the baffled humans as it ran up the side of the tower, and entered.

Everyone was silent for a moment before Sokka spoke. "Well. I think this is worth looking into."

Toph walked up to the building, frowning as her feet met with the sand. She placed her hand against the wall of the tower. "It's not just a tower," she told them. "It's huge." She pressed her hand harder against the wall. "There's so many rooms. And shelves."

"With scrolls?" Sokka said, an intrigued light in his eye. "But it's flooded with sand?"

"No, actually. It's still clear."

"We're going in," Rahen announced. Sokka seemed to agree, tying a rope to his boomerang. He tossed it up, and it hooked onto the side of the window.

"I'm not going in there," Li Han said, placing his hand on his hips. He glared at his brother. "You have no idea what you may find in there. You don't even know if this is what you've been looking for."

"There's nothing else out here," Rahen said, lining up behind Sokka to climb the rope.

Li Han threw his arms up in exasperation. "I may as well argue with this wall." He made no move to follow his brother, instead sitting down in the sand, arms folded.

The Avatar spoke to his sky bison for am moment, before moving to follow Sokka and Rahen. He walked over to Toph before taking hold of the rope. "Are you coming?"

"Books and scrolls don't exactly do much for me," she told him.

"Oh. Right."

"I'll just wait out here with Appa and Li Han. Let me know if you find anything in there I can use…or if anything goes wrong." Li Han couldn't help but groan as the Avatar nodded and began scaling the wall. He sat in silence for a few minutes before glancing at his companion. "You don't like it much out here."

"What's to like? There's nothing but sand." She frowned, folding her own arms. "I'll be glad when we're out of here."

To the side, the Avatar's sky bison let out a loud, deep groan, as if in agreement. "At least we're all on the same page," Li Han muttered, glancing up at the window once more. His brother and the others were all inside. He only hoped that the strange place's secrets wouldn't be a dangerous sort.

* * *

Sokka climbed down the rope, down into the library, followed closely by Rahen and Aang. A library, Sokka marveled. It really wasn't a bad way to spend his vacation. One by one, they reached the ground, taking in the sights of the grand building, Momo following soon after to land on Aang's shoulder. "Li Han would love this," he heard Rahen say to himself. Sokka frowned; he idly hoped that the brothers would work things out. Though they had spoken quietly, he had heard enough to know that they were arguing as they flew. Sokka hadn't meant to pour fuel on the fire of their split.

Sokka looked at a mosaic on a wall; it showed a great owl creature. "Hey, does this mean anything to any of you?"

Aang looked at it beside him. "I don't know. Something about this place is…odd."

"You mean spirit world odd, don't you?" Sokka asked him, a small mixture of dread mixing into his excitement. Whenever the spirit world stuff got involved, things always got more difficult. But before Aang could confirm his suspicions, they heard a sound behind them. A sort of ruffling, like…wings? Thinking fast, Sokka and Aang hid behind one of the pillars, Rahen hiding behind the pillar across from them. Taking a glance past the pillar, they could see a giant owl, just like the one in the mosaic, walking on the bridge.

The owl turned its head to look at where they were hiding. "I know you're back there."

Quickly, Aang got back behind the pillar, exchanging a nervous look with Sokka. But Rahen came out from the pillar, staring up at the giant owl.

"I am Rahen, of Yao Sho. I followed a man into this desert, who may have visited this place."

"Ah," the owl said. "And I assume this man you followed was not a friend? Yes, I believe I know of whom you speak. You and your friends had best leave the way you came, unless you wish to meet a similar fate as that one."

Sokka and Aang came out from the pillar, standing beside him. Aang tried to put on a smile. "Hello, uh, owl-spirit. I'm the Avatar, and this is Sokka. We didn't mean to offend you by coming in. We found this place, and our friend saw the shelves of scrolls. We were kinda curious. Who are you, and what exactly is this place?"

For a moment, the giant owl-spirit paused, considering what Aang had said. Then, "This is my library, the greatest collection of knowledge ever compiled. I am Wan Shi Tong, "He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things." And you are all humans, which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my study." Ten thousand things didn't actually sound like that much to Sokka, though he suspected the name was made more for the dramatic sound than by any actual count.

"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked the spirit. Beside him, Rahen crossed his arms, glaring at the spirit. No doubt, he still wanted to investigate what Zhao had found in the library, especially since Wan Shi Tong had basically confirmed that he had come. Sokka himself still wanted to know—though, the vast collection of scrolls and books offered far more to study. Perhaps there was information on the Fire Nation that could be useful.

Assuming, of course, that Wan Shi Tong didn't kill them and actually let them look through the library.

Wan Shi Tong did not look amused by Aang's question. "Hm! Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans. Like the firebender who you followed here. He came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy." Sokka frowned. His heartbeat quickened as the spirit leaned over him menacingly. "So ... who are you trying to destroy?"

 _The Fire Nation._ "What? No, no, no, no destroying. We're not into that."

The owl blinked. "Then why have you come here?"

Sokka searched for something good and believable. "Um...knowledge for knowledge's sake?"

Wan Shi Tong was not impressed. "If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it."

Sokka grabbed Aang, pulling him to face the spirit. "I'm not lying," he told Wan Shi Tong. "He's the Avatar, remember? He's the bridge between our worlds. He'll vouch for me." Sokka just hoped that Aang was more convincing than he had been. He nudged Aang.

"Ow." Aang momentarily gave him a glare before he turned back to the giant owl spirit. "Uh, yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word." They both bowed to Wan Shi Tong. Sokka hoped that Rahen was playing along. Then again, if he had done anything overtly offensive, Sokka suspected Wan Shi Tong would have made it clear.

The spitit considered them for a moment before speaking again. "Hmm, very well. I'll let you peruse my vast collection on one condition." _Please, please don't be that we can never leave_ , Sokka thought. "To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."

The three of them stood for a moment, trying to think of anything they had to give to the spirit. To Sokka's surprise, Rahen stepped up first, though he looked dejected as he did so. He took out a piece of parchment from his tunic. A letter of some sort, Sokka recognized. "I have a love letter, written in renga poetry, in the sandbenders' dialect." Sokka blinked. Love poems?

But Wan Shi Tong appeared interested in the letter, taking it from Rahen's reluctant hands. "Rengas have rarely been written in the sandbender's dialect. This is a fine tribute."

Aang hesitated, then his face brightened. "Uh ... oh, I know!" He took out a wanted poster from his tunic—of himself. Why did he carry that around with him? And did that really even count?

"I suppose that counts," Wan Shi Tong said. Well, at least he wasn't being too strict…

It was Sokka's turn. He had nothing on him besides his own quick thinking. He could only hope that was enough. He pulled out a string. "Oh, great spirit, check this out!" He tied the piece of string into a butterfly knot, offering it to Wan Shi Tong. "Ta-da! It's a special knot. That counts as knowledge!" The moment felt long as he waited to see whether Wan Shi Tong would accept the string, or if he had provoked the spirit.

Finally, "You're not very bright, are you?" Sokka made an offended noise as Wan Shi Tong took the knot from his hands. "Enjoy the library." With that, the spirit jumps from the bridge, flying down to the lower levels. Sokka, Aang, and Rahen were left along in the library. Sokka could hear a relieved breath escape Rahen's lips. They turned to explore the library.

Sokka lingered for an instant, looking to where Wan Shi Tong had been. "Bright enough to fool you."

* * *

Toph spoke idly to Appa and Li Han as she waited for their friends to come back from the library. Appa, of course, did little more than groan in response. Not that Li Han was much better company. He'd mumble responses, and try to be friendly, but she could tell he was more preoccupied with his brother's absence. "You can stop worrying about him, you know. Your brother has survived this long, and he has the Avatar with him. I know Aang doesn't seem like much, but he can handle a himself in a fight."

Li Han let out a breath. She felt him moving, but she couldn't tell how exactly through the vibrations in the sand. "Don't you worry about your friends?"

She folded her arms. "Don't think I don't care about them. But I know they can handle this." She shifted her weight on the sand, frowning at the lack of clarity in her 'vision.' "I've never had such a lack of solid ground," she admitted. "Usually, I can see with my earthbending, but in this sand…everything is a big, fuzzy mess." She didn't like the feeling. It was a bit too close to the true blindness she had experienced when the Fire Nation girl had somehow blocked her bending. She stood in the sand, trying to better feel the movement. She knew that some earthbenders had learnt to bend the sand, but she had never had any reason to learn that skill. She took a breath, quickly letting it back out. She hoped the others would come back from the underground building soon.

* * *

Sokka and the others perused the bookshelves, looking at books and scrolls that caught their interest. Sokka had never seen such a collection in his life. In another time, when there was no war, he thought he may truly enjoy reading through some of the collections, satisfying every curiosity he'd ever had. But as it was, he was on the hunt for intelligence on the Fire Nation. Around them, Sokka would occasionally see foxes such as the one they had seen outside, taking scrolls and placing them back on the shelves.

"Hey, look at these weird lion turtle things," Aang said, and Sokka looked over to the book Aang was holding. In it, there was an illustration of a giant lion-turtle.

Sokka shrugged. "I've seen weirder." He continued looking through the shelves.

Nearby them, Rahen looked through the shelves. He paused a few times, looking at some of the books. "Li Han would love this." He looked back to Sokka. "What did Zhao want here?"

Sokka let out a breath. "Knowledge he couldn't find anywhere else in our world. And that's what I want to find, too."

He strolled trough more shelves. A book on poisons. A history of Water Tribe trade. A short treatise on entering the spirit world. An anatomical chart of platypus bears. Finally, Sokka came upon a podium, upon which laid a burnt piece of parchment.

""The darkest day in Fire Nation history,"" he read. "It's got a date at the top, but it doesn't say anything else." He took his machete and pried open the podium, taking out the parchment. He ran through the library, followed closely behind by Aang and Rahen.

"Sokka, where are you going?" Aang called.

"I want to know what happened to the Fire Nation on their darkest day. This could be promising," he told them. "The information on the Fire Nation should be right up here." They entered the room.

But all that remained was ashes.

"Firebenders," Aang said quietly.

"Zhao," Rahen guessed, a deep scowl on his face. "It must have been. When he was here a few years ago, he must have found what he wanted and burned everything that could be used against the Fire Nation."

Sokka was quiet for a few moments before letting out a frustrated growl. "That's so unfair! Just when I think I may've found something useful, it turns out there's nothing left for us to use. Even after he's gone, Zhao still cost us…" He fell to his knees. "I need to know what happened on the darkest day." It was the most promising thing he had encountered. But the lunatic admiral had already scorched anything that could be useful. Sokka heard a whimpering sound, and he looked at the entrance. One of the strange foxes was there, standing on its hind legs. It was staring right at Sokka. "Hello, little weird fox guy."

The fox stood on four legs, pointing out of the room. Aang blinked. "Uh, Sokka? I think he wants us to follow him."

Sokka blinked, but he stood up. "Um, sure, I guess I'll follow you," he told the fox. So they followed the little creature out of the room, and through the halls of the library. Before long, they stood before a great, round door. The fox slipped through, and in moments, the door was open, with the fox waiting for them on the other side. They entered the room.

It was unlike anything Sokka had seen before. A dome, with the sky on it. In the middle of the room, there was a device with a lever. The fox pushed the lever, and the sky above them changed from day to night.

"Uh, this is beautiful, but how is it helpful?" he asked the fox.

"These dials can be used to set a date and time," Rahen observed, touching them lightly. He looked up to the dome, before looking to Sokka. "Give me the date on that parchment. Let's see what happens." Sokka did as he asked, and Rahen entered the date. The room began changing between night and day as it shifted the sky to how it had been on the Darkest Day.

"Wow, I got to hand it to you, Sokka," Aang told him while they waited. "You picked the best mini-vacation for sure." Sokka shot him a quick grin before the room turned dark. Sokka frowned; wasn't it still supposed to be daytime? His eyes narrowed for a moment as he looked at the sky. He grinned.

"It's a solar eclipse," he exclaimed. "It's literally the darkest day in Fire Nation history. Now I get it." He grabbed Aang's shoulders and shook him lightly. "Something awful happened on that day. I don't know what, but I do know why. Firebenders lose their bending during a solar eclipse!" He let go of Aang. "Sorry."

"You mean like what happened at the North Pole?"

Sokka nodded. "Except, without murdering a spirit and almost killing everyone." He heard another whimpering noise, and saw the fox on its hind legs, begging for a treat. "Fine, you earned it." He tossed the fox a piece of jerky he had stored, before turning back to Aang. "We've gotta get this information to the Earth King at Ba Sing Se. We'll wait for the next eclipse, then we'll invade the Fire Nation when they're totally helpless. The Fire Lord is going down!" And they'd have Katara back, too. They had been planning to meet at Ba Sing Se anyways; now they had another reason to be there.

Before anyone could say anything else, a dark shadow appeared in the room. They turned around to see Wan Shi Tong at the entrance of the room. "Mortals are so predictable, and such terrible liars," he said, and his voice carried a quiet fury. Sokka gulped. "You betrayed my trust. From the beginning, you intended to misuse this knowledge for evil purposes."

 _Evil?!_ "You don't understand," Sokka argued. "If anyone's evil, it's the Fire Nation. You saw what they did to your library. They're destructive and dangerous. We need this information."

Wan Si Tong was not swayed. "You think you're the first person to believe their war was justified? Countless others before you have come here seeking weapons or weaknesses or battle strategies."

"Such as Zhao?" Rahen asked, stepping away from the dials. He pointed a finger at Wan Si Tong. "You talk about us being bad liars—what about Zhao? How long did you let that madman go through your library, searching for new ways to cause mass destruction? Did you realize he was a monster before or after he set part of your library aflame?" He had a point, Sokka thought. But he very much doubted that Rahen was doing them any favors in his argument.

Aang seemed to agree, stepping up to try to console the spirit. "We had no choice. Please, we're just desperate to protect the people we love."

"And now I'm going to protect what I love," Wan Shi Tong told them. He began flapping his wings and the library began to shake.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking my knowledge back. No one will ever abuse it again." _Back?_ Sokka thought. _Back to…_

There was only one place he could think of that a spirit would go back to. And he was not interested being a prisoner in the spirit world again.

"We have to get out of here!" Aang told them. Sand began pouring in from the ceiling.

But before any of them could do anything, Wan Shi Tong's neck elongated. "I'm afraid I can't allow that. You already know too much."

And he attacked.

* * *

There was a rumble beneath their feet. Toph frowned as she felt it, the sand concealing what it was she was feeling. An earthquake? Appa snarled, and she heard a horrified gasp from Li Han. "It's sinking," she said as she realized it. "It's sinking!" And her friends were still inside. She ran up to the tower, slamming her fists against it. She had to keep it above the sand for as long as she could. They would get out—they would. She just had to buy them enough time. He feet began to slip, and she had to solidify her stance. She slammed her fists back with a shout.

"What do we do?" she heard Li Han asking her from behind her.

"Just stay back and let me concentrate!"

She could feel it sinking—though, it felt almost more like it was being pulled down. Beside her, she felt Li Han and Appa. She thought she may have felt something else coming, but everything was fuzzy, and she was too preoccupied with keeping the window above ground for her friends.

* * *

Rahen had acted the quickest, sandbending a hard sphere into Wan Shi Tong's eye, but they had little option but to flee. If the spirit hadn't been angry before, now he was in a rage. The library wasn't going under immediately, thankfully, but they knew they had little time left. They had to get out. So it was that they were running through the halls, Wan Shi Tong following at their heels. Aang and Rahen fought against him, trying to slow him down. They reached the bridge where they had come in.

But Sokka hesitated. Aang gave him a frantic look as he saw him stop. "Sokka, we've gotta get out of here!"

"But we still don't know when the next eclipse is gonna to happen." He had to get back into the planetarium.

"Sokka!" It was as much an argument as anything. As much a relief as it had been to learn that Katara was alive, they still didn't want to lose anyone again.

But Sokka was resolute. They would never get an opportunity like this again. "If we leave this place, we'll never get the information. Rahen, come with me to the planetarium, I need cover. Aang, take Momo and get out of here!" Aang hesitated for a long moment as Sokka and Rahen began running back towards the planetarium, before running. He wouldn't leave without then, though.

* * *

If she pulled this off, Toph thought, there shouldn't be any doubt that she was the greatest earthbender in the world. Ever.

She held the building up in the sand for as long as she could, feeling a slow scratchiness as it slowly slipped down her palms. She kept her stance as solid as she could in the loose sand. It would be alright. It would be alright, they would make it out before she lost the building. She could still do this for a few more minutes…

And then she heard noise behind her. Appa grunted agitatedly. She heard Li Han speaking, other voices joining his. Several large…boats? There was a large boat in the sand, and several people around Appa.

"Who's there?" she called.

"Sandbenders!" Li Han called out. She thought she felt him close to the sandbenders. A moment later, she heard a hard _thwack_ and she vaguely felt him falling to the ground. He did not get up.

Uncontested, the sandbenders surrounded Appa. Toph could feel Appa struggling against them. Were they taking Appa? _No, no, no! We'll be stuck in the desert! And Aang—_

What would a bunch of sandbenders to with a sky bison, anyways?

"Don't make me put this down!" She let go of the building for a moment, trying to earthbend the sand at them. But she had never actually tried bending pure sand before, and she could bare see them anyways. She didn't need to feel them to know she had completely missed. But she could also feel the building sinking fast without her holding it up. She went back to trying to hold it up. "No! Stop sinking!" But she heard more of Appa struggling as the sandbenders began to move him against his will. She tried to attack the sandbenders several more times, but each attempt failed. She could feel the building being pulled underground. She couldn't help Appa. "No!" All she could do was try to save Aang and Sokka. She slammed her fists back onto the tower's wall. "I'm sorry, Appa." She closed her eyes.

* * *

Aang caught Sokka and Rahen as the rope was cut. They had arrived back from the planetarium in one piece, much to Wan Shi Tong's displeasure. Sokka had a victorious grin on his lips, and Aang knew he had found what he was looking for. Aang strained as he pulled both Sokka and Rahen to the window they had entered through. Wan Shi Tong was right behind; if Aang was just the tiniest bit slower, they would have been caught.

As it was, they just made it out of the window, landing hard outside. Aang heard Toph before he saw her, an exhausted release of her breath as she let go of the tower. _That's why it took so long for it to sink_ , Aang realized. _She held it up for us._

Before he knew it, he was being hugged by an elated Sokka. "We got it. There's a solar eclipse coming. The Fire Nation's in trouble now!"

Aang wanted to be happy, too. But he had seen Toph's dejected look and had seen Rahen's frantic run to his brother's side, who was motionless on the ground.

What Aang did not see, anywhere, was Appa.

He walked over to Toph, the only one who may be able to tell him what had happened. "Where's Appa?" But she just shook her head. For once, there was no laughter, no boast, no victory.

Aang's eyes widened as he understood, looking around frantically, desperately, once more. A tear escaped his eyes.

Appa was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. We are officially into new material. Believe it or not, I thought this would be a short chapter. Why? Beats me.  
> 1\. Next chapter should have more Zutara. There was, like, one scene in here, but considering how long this chapter ended up being, and that it was only one scene, I decided to shift it to next chapter.  
> 2\. I hope the presence of a couple oc's wasn't too much of a pain for anyone. I know opinions on the inclusion of oc's varies wildly from reader to reader.  
> 3\. Also, you should know that I'm feeling better. Considering the pandemic, I had a bit of a scare when I started feeling sick, but it turned out to be nothing worth worrying over. I appreciate your comments, input, and I hope you all are doing well.


	19. Part 3 Chapter 3: A Long, Long Way

To both Katara and Zuko’s relief, Iroh had recovered from Azula’s attack quickly. It helped to have a waterbender’s help, he had said. The three of them moved quickly after that, leaving the town where they had fought. It was much like before Zuko had left, though there was a renewed sense of urgency. Already, they had faced Azula once. It would be best to reach the shelter of Ba Sing Se before she could track them down again.

Of course, Katara just hoped that Aang and Sokka would be able to do so as well. Trouble always managed to find Aang, if he didn’t seek it out himself. But she believed in him, and in Sokka. Between them and their new friend, Toph, Katara had faith that they would reach Ba Sing Se safely.

She frowned as Iroh stopped the ostrich-horse. “We can make camp here,” he said. He looked onwards. “The land becomes more barren from here. We are approaching the threshold of the Si Wong Desert. We had best get our rest, and our nourishment now.”

Zuko crossed his arms. “Azula is still out there. Along with who knows who else.” But he got down from the ostrich-horse. Katara knew he was still concerned about his uncle, even if Iroh seemed to have healed.

“I agree,” Katara told him, coming up beside him. “But Iroh is right—we need to stop to have dinner. To prepare to keep going forward tomorrow. To reach safety.” She smiled “Besides, you and I have training. We should eat first.” For the past few days, the tow of them had been practicing their bending together.

Zuko frowned for a moment before letting out a breath. “You’re right.” He started helping them make camp, nodding as a smiling Iroh thanked him. “I just don’t like all of this running and hiding,” he quietly told Katara as he helped her prepare a fire.

“I know the feeling,” she said, frowning as she saw him look away. She looked at the fire he had created. It was a little, contained thing. She glanced at Zuko, whose eyes were transfixed on the flames. Melancholy Zuko, again. “It won’t be forever, you know.”

He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “I just don’t know how this will end. Am I going to spend the rest of my life on the run from my own nation?” He frowned. “If we’re captured, what is my father planning to do with us?”

“I don’t know, and I’m never going to know,” Katara told him firmly. “You and your uncle are never going to be captured. I promise.”

Zuko snorted. “That’s not a very good promise to make. You can’t know what’s going to happen.” But his mood seemed a bit lightened. A few moments later, Iroh returned with what he had managed to find to eat; a few edible plants (which Katara confirmed to be edible). They cooked it with a pouch of rice. They would need to get more supplies, Katara noted. Katara did most of the cooking, occasionally speaking to Zuko to show him what she was doing. He was mostly silent, but he paid attention. Iroh sat near them, singing a love song.

At sunset, Zuko and Katara moved through waterbending forms. The sun was still present around the horizon, bathing the sky in an orange-red glow, but it had been joined by the moon, a pale silver orb. It grew brighter as the sun went down, but for the moment, both of them watched the young benders practice one another’s’ bending forms.

They practiced the movements, first. They were very different from their respective elements. Katara ran Zuko through some basic waterbending forms, guiding him through the fluid motions. He had to adjust his form a few times as he practiced, trying to feel the difference in the movement of his chi. Then, he showed some basic firebending forms to Katara, who echoed his movements. It was very different from waterbending. It was more aggressive, direct. There was also the fact the that firebenders usually created their own fire, channeling it either through their hands or feet.

Zuko displayed a very basic blast of fire. He turned to her, observing as she copied his movements. “I think you have it down.” He scratched his head slightly. “How do you translate that to water, though?”

Katara frowned for a moment, then she grinned. “Well there’s water in the air, right?” She took a deep breath, trying to feel the water around her. She took her stance, and made the punching motion that Zuko had shown her, pushing the water in the air together and forward. It was only a small splash, but she could see the water in the air liquifying and blasting outwards. She dropped her stance. It wasn’t exactly what she had hoped for.

“I think you did it right,” Zuko told her. She looked at him. He held his chin for a moment as he thought. He nodded. “This is a desert. There’s just not a lot of water in the air. But I think you’re onto something. We’ll just have to keep experimenting.” She grinned. She looked around, and seeing a cactus, she moved towards it, so that she was beside it. Zuko frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Experimenting,” she told him. She resumed her stance, trying to feel the water in the plants as she had a few days previously. She could move plants—but could she draw the water from them? It was time to find out. She punched out again, as Zuko had done, this time pulling water from the plant. Do her delight, it worked; the cactus shriveled as all of the water was drawn out. It flew in a hard blast against the nearby rocks. “I did it!”

“That was…that was great,” Zuko told her, staring at her. He shook his head. “I guess you don’t have to worry about not having water.”

She grinned. “Now it’s your turn,” she told him. “I’ve firebent water, now you try waterbending fire. How about a water whip?”

He took his stance, trying to echo what she had shown him. She saw him frown, probably figuring out how to translate the waterbending form to firebending. Finally, there was a light in his eye, and he deviated from the form slightly as he conjured fire in his hands. Quickly, he assumed a stance mostly alike the beginning of the water whip, sustain the fire all the while. Quickly, he went through the motions of the water whip, the flame following his movement. It was a success, as he sent out a small, mostly controlled, stream of fire to whack against the stone. Katara grinned.

“You did it!”

Zuko just stared for a moment before he smiled. “I did, didn’t I?” He looked at the scorch marks. “It wasn’t easy. Fire isn’t usually held in such a molded form.”

“Water isn’t usually just let loose,” Katara told him, coming to stand next to him. She smiled. “We’re working with our natural opposites. I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising that we have to do modify the forms slightly. But still…the fact that we actually managed. That’s just crazy.”

Zuko folded his arms. “We’ll have to practice more. With actual fire and water.”

Katara nodded, but before she could say anything else, she heard a noise from behind. The ostrich-horse was alarmed by something; Katara thought she heard something else coming. Frowning she assumed a waterbending stance, Zuko assuming his own stance by her side.

“What now?” Iroh asked, annoyance at their newest problem seeping into his voice. Within moments, they were surrounded as Fire Nation men came out from the sides of the road. Katara frowned at them; she had never seen these men before, or any like them. Each had a distinct uniform. _Great_ , she thought. _More people after Zuko and Iroh._ She would have fought, as would have Zuko, but Iroh came between them, momentarily placing a hand on each teenagers’ shoulder, before speaking to the men surrounding them. “Colonel Mongke! What a pleasant surprise!” This wasn’t exactly what Katara would call pleasant. She could only assume that Iroh had some sort of a plan.

“If you're surprised we're here, then the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps,” one of the men, whom Katara could only assume was Colonel Mongke, said. The men all had their weapons ready to attack them.

“You know these guys?” Zuko asked his uncle.

“Sure,” Iroh answered. “Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary. Each one is a different kind of weapon specialist. They are also a very capable singing group.”

“I don’t think they’re here to sing for us,” Katara said, frowning as she held herself back from fighting. Any moment now, someone would attack.

“Your waterbender friend is correct,” Mongke said, his fists raised. Firebender, then. “We’re here to apprehend fugitives.”

Iroh still wasn’t bothered. “Would you like some tea first? I'd love some. How about you, Kahchi? I make you as a jasmine man. Am I right?” Katara took a deep breath as Iroh talked; there wasn’t much water around, but there were a few plants.

“Enough stalling!” Mongke snapped. “Round 'em up!” And the fight began.

It didn’t last long; despite being outnumbered, between Iroh, Zuko, and Katara, they easily overmatched the rhino-riding enemies. She was vaguely aware of Iroh and Zuko’s fight, while she pulled the water from a few nearby plants to swipe one of the riders off of his rhino. His face had been stunned as he saw her draw water from the plants, but before long he was on the ground, and Katara had him pinned to the ground with a few icicles. She turned just in time to see Zuko and Iroh engaged with Mongke; she hit him with a water whip just as Zuko blasted him off of his rhino.

Iroh had gotten back onto the ostrich-horse, Zuko jumping on after him. They ran by her, Zuko grabbing her up as the ostrich horse ran. It wouldn’t be able to carry the three of them for long, but at least the creature seemed to be able to bear their weight at the moment. Hopefully, it would be able to get them just far enough away from the Rough Rhinos. Most of their supplies were left behind.

“It's nice to see old friends,” Iroh told them cheerfully, as they avoided a grenade one of the Rough Rhinos had thrown at them.

“Those were friends?” she asked incredulously.

“Too bad you don't have any old friends that don't want to attack you,” Zuko said. She couldn’t see his face, but she could swear she heard his scowl.

“Hmmm…Old friends that don't want to attack me…” Iroh murmured. Katara frowned, hoping he had an idea. Otherwise, she didn’t know how they could keep fending off these attacks along the way to Ba Sing Se.

* * *

This was bad.

That was just about Sokka’s only thought as he stared at the endless sand dunes, as though his stare and their desperation would somehow conjure Appa back from wherever he had been taken. But it was hopeless; Appa was nowhere to be seen. They were stuck in the Si Wong Deseret. How could everything go so wrong, so fast? Just minutes before, Sokka had been thrilled, they had been victorious. He felt the maps and scrolls he had taken as though they were a stone dragging him down. They provided them with the best chance they had at defeating the Fire Nation.

And they may die before they could even tell anyone.

Sokka closed his eyes as he heard Aang yelling at Toph. Of course, this would hit Aang hard. Appa was the last thing he had left from his old life, aside from Bumi, who was equally unavailable. Sokka almost wasn’t sure if he was upset that Katara wasn’t there to help them through this mess, or if he was, for once, happy that she was with Zuko. At least she wasn’t lost out in the desert with them. He opened his eyes, letting out a frustrated breath. She would be waiting for them in Ba Sing Se. He didn’t know how they were going to get there now, but he did not intend to let her down. He turned around, looking at his younger friends, who were arguing, and Rahen and Li Han. Li Han was still unconscious, but it appeared to be only a minor hit to the head.

He groaned as he heard Aang shout, “You just didn't care! You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!”

Sokka shook his head as he saw Toph’s face. She rarely showed hurt, but Sokka could tell that Aang’s anger was starting to upset her. “Aang,” he said as he reached their side. “You have to know that Toph is the only reason we were able to get out of the library. She had to choose between saving us and saving Appa. We can find Appa, but first we have to get out of this mess. Rahen,” he called. The man looked up from his brother’s side. “Can you help us out of this desert?” The man had survived in the desert before, after all. Sokka had to hope that that meant he could help them through it now.

Rahen hesitated before giving a sharp nod. “I can get us help.”

But Aang was not satisfied. “That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves! You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!” It was just grief, Sokka knew. But he folded his arms as he stared down his younger friend.

“How exactly are we going to get Appa back if we’re dead? You know there’s only so long we can last out here.” Sokka pointed at Rahen. “Look, if we can just get out of this desert first, we can come back later.”

Aang clenched a fist. “No! I'm going after Appa.” Before anyone could say anything else, Aang had taken out his glider and flown away. Sokka let out a breath, smacking his own forehead.

“I’m sorry,” he heard Toph say, and he turned around. For once, the earthbender actually looked small, young. “I couldn’t let the library sink with all of you still inside. I would’ve saved Appa, too, if I could have.”

“I know,” Sokka told her. “Aang does, too. It’s just, Appa is one of the last things he has from his old life. He’ll come around.” He looked over to the pair of brothers; Li Han was finally awakening. Sokka frowned. Not the best situation to wake up to. He walked over to them as Rahen helped a perplexed Li Han sit up.

“Are you okay?” he asked Li Han.

“My head hurts,” Li Han said, scowling. Then his eyes widened. “Your sky bison!” He looked around frantically.

“Little late,” Sokka said. “The sandbenders already made off with him. We’re stuck out here—we have to make it out on foot.”

“The sandbenders aren’t all bad,” Rahen told him, thick eyebrown drawn down as he helped his brother stand. Li Han appeared to be steady on his feet; hopefully he would be able to walk with them without any assistance.

“Well, no offense, but they may’ve just killed us all,” Sokka snapped. “So if you don’t mind, don’t tell me not to me mad at them.” He took a few calming breaths. He walked over to Toph, asking her to follow the sound of their voices. Then, he looked back to Rahen. “You said you can get us help? Well, lead the way.”

Rahen raised an eyebrow at Sokka, before taking a look at the too-clear sky. “It’s easier to navigate at night,” he told them. But he looked at where the tower had been, then around. “We came from this direction…I think we should go in this direction.” He pointed to a different way than they had come.

Sokka paused. “You’re sure about this?” The last thing they needed was to get even more lost than they already were.

“You wanted my help, didn’t you? Well, this is it.” Without waiting for anyone to respond, Rahen began walking.

Sokka glanced at Li Han, who gave him a slight shrug, before he went to follow his brother. Sokka shook his head as Momo landed on his shoulder. He turned to Toph, taking her hand. “Come on.”

He could only hope that Rahen knew where he was taking them.

* * *

After fleeing the Rough Rhinos, Iroh, Zuko, and Katara had stayed at a steady pace on the ostrich-horse. The animal had tired out after a bit, faster than it would have if it had only had one or two of them on it. They had departed from the main road, though they were still close enough that Iroh could easily keep track of where they were going. They stopped, to allow the animal to catch its breath. Zuko watched Katara frown as she looked at her waterskin. He looked around; they must have been within the bounds of the Si Wong Desert. Even though they were not surrounded by sand dune, Zuko could see and feel the dryness of the land they were in. He hoped that his uncle knew where he was taking them. He looked over at Uncle Iroh, to see him looking intently over their map. After a few minutes, he rolled it back up, offering them both a smile.

“Good news,” he told them. “I know where we are going next. And it is not far—we can be there within an hour.”

“That’s great news!” Katara said, smiling.

But Zuko’s arms were crossed. “We’re in the desert,” he said. “What could possibly be out here for us?” Things rarely worked out in their favor. He didn’t know what his uncle hoped to find, but he had a hard time believing that there could be anything useful in the Si Wong Desert.

“The Misty Palms Oasis,” Uncle Iroh answered. Zuko blinked, trying to think of whether the name was at all familiar.

“Isn’t that some dumb tourist trap?” Though, why there would be tourists out here, Zuko couldn’t imagine.

Katara’s smile fell a bit as she looked back to Iroh. “I’ll bite. What’s there that can be useful. Besides getting some news supplies…if we can afford any now.” They had lost most of their money at their camp, as well.

Uncle Iroh smiled conspiratorially. “I seem to recall my nephew saying that it was too bad that I don’t have any old friends who don’t want to attack me. Well, I may be able to find one such friend here.”

Zuko blinked. “You have…a friend in a tourist trap, in a desert, in the Earth Kingdom?” His voice was weak with his incredulity.

“Perhaps,” Iroh said. “One only needs to know where to look.” With that, he began walking, following the map, leaving the young benders to get onto the ostrich horse.

As they got onto the ostrich horse, Zuko quietly asked Katara, “Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?”

But she just shrugged. “I have no clue.”

* * *

Sokka wiped a large glob of sweat from his forehead as they followed Rahen to who-knows-where. Toph’s hand was still in his. He doubted she liked this, showcased by her occasional grumble. But she could barely see in the sand, and he wasn’t going to get separated from anyone else out here. He wondered if she allowed it for her comfort or his own.

Rahen led them onwards, but he gave little indication where they were going. Were they heading out of the desert? Or even deeper into it? Not for the first time, he questioned his own decision to ask the man for help. Aang had yet to return. Sokka swallowed; he reassured himself that Aang was capable. He may have wandered off to look for Appa, but he would be back. He’d be fine. He just had to hope that everyone was still okay when Aang returned.

“Where are you taking us?” He had to ask.

Rahen answered without even looking back. “I have a friend out here. They can help us get out of the desert.” _Helpful_ , Sokka thought. _And not vague at all._

Li Han didn’t seem impressed with the answer, either. “A friend? Since when have you had a friend out here?” Rahen didn’t answer. “We’re only in this mess because I was worried about you. Because for a year now you’ve never come home, or written me any letters. Now you say you had some friend helping you?”

“I never asked you to come out here,” Rahen snapped.

Sokka let go of Toph, throwing his hand in the air before Li Han could start arguing. “Can we all please just get along until after we’re out of this stupid desert? We can all bite each other’s head off then!” How were they going to get out of the desert when people couldn’t stop find new things to fight over?

“Hey?” Toph spoke, and Sokka couldn’t help but note the subdued exhaustion in her voice. “Can I have some water?”

Li Han walked over, handing her a waterskin. “Be careful how much you drink,” he told her. “I brought two extra waterskins, but we still need to conserve our water. We don’t know how long we’ll be out here.” Toph took only a small sip before offering the water skin back to him. “Keep it.”

Sokka raised an eyebrow. “Three full waterskins?”

“Better to have and not need than to need and not have,” Li Han told him. Sokka couldn’t help but smile for a moment.

But then it fell. “We still might run out. Between the five of us…” He blinked as he saw a plant—a cactus. Weren’t those supposed to hold drinkable water inside? Sokka was sure he had heard that. He grinned. “This may solve our problem!” He ran up to it, taking out his machete and cutting one of the circular cacti in half. He held it in his hands, looking down to see fluid in it.

The next thing he knew, a large flow of sand shot upwards, knocking the cactus out of his hands and hitting him in the face. He yelped, turning to see Rahen looking displeased. “Do not drink from the cacti,” the man said, glaring at Sokka tiredly. “They are poisonous. They won’t kill you…probably, but they will render you senseless for about a day.”

“Oh…” Sokka blinked, frowning at the cactus and stepping away from it. “Thanks, I guess.” They were still where they started, limited water supply, and nothing to replace it with. But at least Sokka still had his wits. The same, apparently, couldn’t be said for Momo who flew around in a circle before plunging to the ground. Sokka sighed as he picked him up. “How’d you know about the cacti?”

Sokka thought that maybe Rahen’s cheeks were red, but it may have just been the sun. He was pretty sure everyone was getting burns. “Experience,” he muttered as he resumed walking. “I may’ve drank from them once. Or twice.”

Li Han gave his brother a baffled stare. “Why would you drink from it a second time if it muddles your brain?”

“It was a bad week.”

“And when did you learn sandbending?”

Sokka blinked, before Toph came up to him. “Can I have some of the cactus?”

Sokka grimaced. “I think we’re better off leaving the plant life alone around here. Come on.” He took her hand again, but before he could pull her along, he heard a loud boom. He turned to see a large mushroom-shaped cloud of dust in the distance, blowing sand outwards. _Aang._ “Great.”

“What?” Toph asked.

“I don’t think Aang’s found Appa,” he told her. He just hoped Aang wasn’t going into the Avatar State. Not when he was alone, with nobody to try to console him. He looked back where Aang almost certainly was, then shook his head, and, with Toph’s hand in his, followed the two brothers.

* * *

It was nearly night when Aang finally returned to them, gliding over them before collapsing on the sand. Appa was nowhere to be seen. Sokka walked over to him, Toph beside him. “Aang?” Once again, he wished Katara was there. She was better at the emotional talks. “Hey, we need to keep moving.”

“What's the difference? We won't survive without Appa. We all know it,” Aang told them blankly. Sokka’s mouth fell. When had Aang ever been so hopeless? So ready to give up? Sokka looked to Toph.

“Toph?”

She shrugged. “As far as I can feel, we're trapped in a giant bowl of sand pudding.”

Rahen stepped towards them, sympathy and determination mixed together in his expression. “Avatar,” he said. “I know we don’t know each other. I know I can’t understand your loss…but it’s not over. I have friends, who can help us get out of this desert. Just follow me.” He turned to resume walking. Sokka looked down to Aang, before offering his a waterskin.

“Just drink a tiny bit, then we need to get walking.” He squeezed Aang’s shoulder lightly. The twelve-year-old stood up, doing as Sokka said, though his gaze remained downcast. “We have vital information, Aang. No matter what, we have to make it out of this desert.”

Aang handed the waterskin back to Sokka after taking a sip, and they resumed walking, just behind the brothers. “Is this the last of the water?”

“Li Han brought extra,” Sokka said. “But we still need to find a way out of here fast. The water won’t last long. Not out here, not between the five of us.”

But as the last of the sun disappeared from the sky, they continued to walk.

* * *

The sun had been setting by the time Iroh led Zuko and Katara into Misty Palms Oasis. It was a small town, just on the outskirts of the Si Wong Desert. It looked deader than most places to Zuko, a few buildings and a few dozen people within the town. In the center, there was a small chunk of ice. Zuko scowled. Why had his uncle led them here? What sort of friend could he possibly have out here?

As they walked through the town, Zuko noticed Katara stop and move away from Zuko. “Where are you going?” he asked her.

“I’ll just be a moment,” she told him, frowning. “I thought I saw something. I need to go check it out. I’ll be back.” Zuko hesitated, but Katara was looking behind him. Zuko followed her gaze to see that Uncle Iroh was waiting for them at the entrance to one of the town’s cantinas. Zuko frowned before letting out a breath and turning back to look at Katara.

“Just don’t be too long. We don’t know where Uncle’s friends from earlier are.” Katara nodded, and Zuko went to join his uncle.

“She’ll be alright,” Iroh assured them as they entered the cantina.

“Why are we here?” Zuko asked him quietly, looking around while Iroh led him to sit at a table.

“I hope to find a friend who may be able to help us.”

Zuko scowled, trying see if anybody stood out from the crowd. “No one here is going to help us,” he told his uncle. “These people just look like filthy wanderers.” Who would help them, anyways?

But Iroh was not daunted. “So do we.” Iroh pointed to something behind Zuko. “Ah, this is interesting. I think I found our friend.”

 _What?_ Zuko turned around to see what Iroh was pointing at. To Zuko’s disbelief, Iroh was pointing to an old man sitting at a Pai Sho table. _He can’t be serious._ “You brought us here to gamble on Pai Sho?” It sounded like a pretty awful idea to Zuko. Especially since they had lost most of their money during the Rough Rhinos’ attack. The last thing they needed was to lose any more.

Still, Iroh was not dissuaded. “I don't think this is a gamble.” He stood up and began making his way to the Pai Sho table, Zuko following behind. At that point, Katara entered the cantina, looking around for a moment before she saw them and came up to them.

“Everything okay?” Zuko asked her quietly. She looked a bit worried.

“Depends how many people here paid attention to the wanted posters,” she told him. Frowning, Zuko noticed that she was hiding two posters in her sleeves. “There’s wanted posters for both of you. I took them down, but I don’t know who might’ve seen them first.” Zuko groaned. What else could go wrong. He glanced around the room. Nobody seemed to be paying them any attention. He could only hope that that meant nobody had paid any attention to their wanted posters. “Hey…what’s he doing?” Katara was now looking at Iroh as he approached the man at the Pai Sho table.

“Playing Pai Sho,” Zuko told her as they made to join his uncle.

“What? _Why?_ ” Zuko could only shrug.

“May I have this game?” Uncle Iroh asked the man.

The man gestured at Iroh to sit down. As he did so, Zuko and Katara remained at his side, observing the game. “The guest has the first move,” the old man said. Iroh pulled out his lotus tile, placing it exactly in the middle of the board. Zuko thought back to Iroh’s shopping adventure to replace the lotus tile. Why did that suddenly feel more meaningful than just an old man losing some board game piece? It certainly seemed to mean something to the old man Iroh was playing against. “I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways.” It sounded almost rehearsed. The old man cupped his hands, some sign of respect or something. Zuko had never seen that particular gesture before, but Uncle Iroh appeared familiar with it, echoing it exactly.

“Those who do can always find a friend,” Iroh said to the man. Like the other man’s previous statement, it sounded almost rehearsed.

“Then let us play.”

And the game began.

Zuko and Katara both watched intently as the two men began placing tiles in rapid succession onto the board. For one moment, Zuko glanced towards Katara, whose brows were furrowed as she tried to make sense of what the old men were doing. Zuko tried to understand what was happening. Just what was his uncle trying to do? Who was this man? And what was with this almost ritualistic game that they were playing? Finally, the Pai Sho tiles were all arranged in the shape of a lotus flower.

“Welcome, brother,” the old man said to Iroh. “The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets.”

Zuko had had enough of the cryptic words and gestures. “What are you old gasbags talking about?” He felt a light hit in his side, looking over to Katara. He shrugged apologetically. “Do you know what’s going on?”

“Not even a little bit,” she said, raising an eyebrow at Iroh and his strange friend.

“I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game,” Uncle Iroh said to Zuko, putting away his lotus tile. Zuko couldn’t say that that particularly cleared things up. _So, what, you’re part of some weird secret society of Pai Sho players?_ It all seemed ridiculously outlandish, but it also appeared to the only reasonable explanation.

“So…does that mean you’ll help us?” Katara asked, her own arms folded. It was clear that she also found the situation to be rather strange. At least Zuko wasn’t alone in that opinion.

“It would be best,” Iroh said, “if we can have this conversation elsewhere. We will need…certain supplies which are not easily obtained.” Zuko scowled. What was that supposed to mean.

But the old man nodded, standing up from the Pai Show table. “There is a place where we can talk safely, and where we can provide you with what you need.” He motioned them to follow him, and they did so.

Zuko once again glanced to Katara, who just shrugged, and they both followed Uncle Iroh out the door. Zuko only hoped that, whatever his uncle was doing, it wasn’t a mistake.

* * *

The desert cloud had only slightly filled the water skin. Sokka had just grimaced as Aang lashed out at them before directing them on. Up ahead, Rahen and Li Han had paused. Sokka walked up to them, the two twelve-year-olds beside him.

“Why are we stopping?” he asked them. Li Han pointed to the ground. Sokka could see some strange object poking out.

“I think I know what this is,” Rahen said. “If we remove the sand, we can see…” He sandbent some of the sand off.

“A boat?” Sokka asked. Then his face lit up in recognition. “Like the sandbenders use?”

“Exactly like them,” Li Han said as Aang blew off the rest of the sand.

“Why would they abandon it out here?” Toph asked.

“They wouldn’t do it intentionally,” Rahen said as he observed the boat. “Their sand-sailers are precious to the sand-bender tribes. This one looks like it belongs to the Hami Tribe.” He scowled. “That doesn’t make sense. The Hami Tribe doesn’t frequent these parts.” Li Han looked confused.

“That’s nice,” Sokka said drily. “But can we use this?” Travelling by foot was just not going to work. Even if a sand-sailer wasn’t as good as Appa, it would still be a vast improvement over their current situation.

Rahen nodded slowly as he observed the boat. “It appears to be intact.” He looked up at them before hopping onto it and waving at them to do the same. “Avatar, we can create a breeze to sail it.” Everyone got onto the boat; Sokka could see that Aang, though determined to get them through the desert, still had a gloomy, blank expression. Sokka sighed as they got the boat gliding along the dunes, Rahen setting their course. Out of the desert, or to this ‘friend’ of his? Nobody knew. But at least their feet could get a bit of rest.

* * *

The old man, Fung, led Iroh, Zuko, and Katara out of the Misty Palms Oasis, to a village very close by. They walked, leaving behind the ostrich-horse. They wouldn’t need it, Fung promised. He led them into a small flower shop. Katara looked around at the plants. What were they supposed to get here?

“It is an honor to welcome such a high-ranking member of the Order of the White Lotus. Being a Grand Master, you must know so many secrets,” Fung said to Iroh.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

At the same time, Zuko said, “Now that you played Pai Sho, are you going to do some flower arranging, or is someone in this club going to offer some real help‌?” He hadn’t said it in a way that Katara would, but she couldn’t say she didn’t partially agree.

“You must forgive my nephew,” Iroh said to Fung. “He is not an initiate and has little appreciation for the cryptic arts. And neither is our friend.” He raised an eyebrow at Katara.

“Oh, you’re being cryptic alright,” she couldn’t help but mutter. She tried not to be impatient. But it was uncomfortable not knowing what was going on.

Fung and Iroh made a beeline towards a door in the back of the shop—a backroom. Fung knocked twice on the door, and a small slit was opened at eye-level.

“Who knocks at the guarded gate?” a new man asked. Katara raised an eyebrow. _Great. More ritual and secrecy._

“One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries,” Iroh answered. The small slot was closed and the door was opened; Fung and Iroh entered the backroom. Zuko and Katara made to follow them in, but the door was abruptly closed in front of them.

“Hey!” Katara placed her hands on her hips while Zuko’s expression turned into what could only be described as a pout.

Iroh opened the slot again. “I'm afraid it's members only. Wait out here.” He closed the slot again, leaving the curious teenagers alone in the flower shop. Zuko turned to sniff one of the flowers.

Katara admired a few of them for a few moments. She turned to Zuko. “So…you didn’t know about any of this?”

Zuko shook his head. “No. He never told me about any of this. I mean, he told me that Pai Sho was more than just a game, but, uh…somehow, that it was connected to a secret society was never my first thought.” Zuko glanced again at the door before he started looking at all of the flowers. Katara inched over to the door, placing her ear at the space between the door and the walls. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to hear what’s going on in there,” she whispered.

Zuko crossed his arms. “Uncle said to wait out here,” he said. Several seconds went by before Zuko’s eyes flickered to the door, then back to her. “What are you hearing? Anything interesting?”

“No,” she whispered, disappointment in her voice. She tried listening further down. There must be somewhere she could listen. She only noticed a shadow coming over her at the last moment. She stood higher, looking up and—Zuko was only inches from her. She froze, though she wasn’t quite sure why. His face was very close, even closer as she stood to her full height. She caught his gaze, taking a close look at his goldish eyes. They were almost yellow in the center, she noticed. She thought Zuko’s cheek was redder than it had been, but maybe it was just the angle she was seeing him from…the very, very close angle.

She stepped back. “What are you doing?” He broke her gaze, turning to the door.

“Sh…let me try.”

The two teenage benders both began trying to find a way to listen in on Iroh’s conversation.

* * *

Sokka frowned as he looked at the star maps he had taken from the library. The sun was rising, but some of the stars were still visible. He looked to the compass on the boat. “Hey, is this thing broken?” he asked Rahen. “Compasses are supposed to point North. This thing is taking us east.”

“It’s not broken,” Rahen told him. “There is a great rock—the Si Wong Rock. It the magnetic center of the Si Wong Desert. The sandbender tribes use it as their point of reference.”

Sokka nodded slowly, ignoring Toph’s eager reaction to finding solid ground.

“It that the rock you’re referring to?” Li Han pointed ahead. Just on the horizon, a great, strange rock formation had come into view. Like a raised circle, out in the endless dunes. It was hard to miss. “Is this where we’re going?”

Rahen only nodded in response. “And this is where we’ll find your ‘friend?’” Sokka asked.

“Maybe we’ll find some sandbenders,” Aang said grimly.

By the time the night gave into day, they were at the base of the giant rock. Toph had eagerly leapt from the boat, about to run up the rock. Sokka didn’t disagree with that idea—maybe from the height of the rock, they would be able to get a batter idea of where they were. Maybe. But before any of them could go up, Rahen’s voice called out.

“Don’t go to the top of the rock.”

Toph paused, turning back to ask him, “Why not?”

“Buzzard wasps,” he told her. “The creatures followed us last night. They usually only feed on the dead…but atop this rock is their nest, and they don’t take well to intruders.”

“That’s great,” Sokka told him. “So what about this friend of yours? Where are they supposed to be?”

“Here,” Rahen said. “They’ll come. We need only wait.”

So they did, and in minutes they were joined by sandbenders. Several boats like the one that they had ridden to the rock arrived. Rahen gave them a friendly wave, but they did not appear friendly, instead focusing on the boat. Aang stepped to the front of their group. Sokka groaned. If these were the same sandbenders that had stolen Appa, they were in a lot of trouble.

* * *

Toph couldn’t see.

This was nothing new to her, it had been that way her entire life. But she had learned to ‘see’ with her earthbending many years ago. Except that, now, she couldn’t get a good ‘look’ at anything. In the desert, everything was all fuzzy. She could get a general sense of location of some people and things, but that was it.

She could feel that there were more sandbenders around them.

“What are you doing in our land with a sandbender-sailer?” one of them asked her friends. “‌ From the looks of it, you stole it from the Hami tribe.” It was an unfamiliar voice—Toph never forgot a voice.

“We didn’t steal it,” she heard Sokka saying, authority in his voice. “We just found it abandoned in the desert. Look, we’re with the Avatar, and our bison was stolen. We have to get to Ba Sing Se—we have really important information for the Earth King.”

“You dare accuse our people of theft while you ride in on a stolen sand sailer‌?!” Toph’s eyes widened slightly. That voice sounded familiar.

“Nobody’s accused anyone of anything, Gashiun,” Rahen said, and Toph vaguely felt him moving forward. “But is there any particular reason you’re feeling so defensive?”

“Rahen?” There was a new voice added to the mix, all while Toph just wanted to hear Gashiun’s voice again. It sounded familiar, and she thought she knew where from. But she needed to be certain before she said anything. “What are you doing here? Why are you with these people?” The new voice was female. She thought she felt the person speaking coming forward.

“Hey,” Li Han’s voice joined in, and Toph could only scowl. “I know you! You’re the one who knocked me unconscious!”

“What?” Aang shouted. If it were true, it only added to the proof that these were the sandbenders who had stolen Appa.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gashiun said. “We’ve never seen any of you before.”

“Yes, you have,” Toph corrected sharply. It would have, perhaps, been better to quietly discuss the matter with her friends first. But Li Han was already shouting at the female sandbender who had whacked him unconscious, with Rahen trying to get in between them. “I never forget a voice—you’re the one who stole Appa!” At once, she felt Aang move to the sandbenders.

“You stole Appa! Where is he? ‌What did you do to him?” She had never heard Aang so enraged.

“They're lying! They're the thieves!” Gashiun tried, once more, to deflect.

The next thing Toph felt was like a great crash, and she realized that Aang had destroyed one of the sandbenders’ sand-sailers. “Where is my bison‌? You tell me where he is _now_!” Another sand-sailer was destroyed.

“What did you do‌?” she heard the unfamiliar sandbender ask.

“I-It wasn't me!” Gashiun tried, yet again, to lie.

Toph wasn’t having it. This guy had stolen Appa, endangering their lives in the process. He had upset Aang and caused the strife between all of them. The entire mess of the past day had been this guy’s fault—and now he thought he could get out of it without even admitting what he’d done? “You said to put a muzzle on him!”

“ _You muzzled Appa‌_?” Aang’s voice was full of fury. Toph didn’t fully understand what happened next. Something seemed to shift as Aang destroyed yet another of the sand-sailers.

“I'm sorry! I didn't know that it belonged to the Avatar!” Gashiun was no longer trying to cover up what he did. Instead, his voice was full of fear; Toph suspected that if she could get a clear read on his heartbeat through the sand, that it would be racing. Vaguely, she thought she felt Rahen pulling Li Han and the female sandbender away from everyone else. She wondered what exactly they saw that she couldn’t.

“Oh no,” she heard Sokka say, his voice full of dread. _Oh no? Oh no, what? What’s everyone freaking out about?_

“Tell me where Appa is!” Aang said. Except, it didn’t sound like Aang. Not Twinkletoes, or even the angry person he had been for the past day. His voice sounded like the voices of hundreds of people, somehow speaking as one.

“I traded him!” Gashiun told him, desperation clear in his voice. “To some merchants! He's probably in Ba Sing Se by now! They were going to sell him there! Please! We'll escort you out of the desert! We'll help however we can!” There was something truly bizarre to the idea that people were genuinely terrified of Aang, but at that moment, Toph could hardly blame them. She didn’t understand what was happening, but it was clear that Aang was somehow more dangerous than any normal person. Oh, she realized. _This is Avatar stuff._ It wasn’t the best introduction.

Gashiun’s words did nothing to help the situation. Toph could feel the wind picking up, swirling dangerously around them, blowing dust around. If she weren’t blind, she wondered if the sand would be enough to render here sightless anyways. She knew that happened sometimes, but she couldn’t know how much dust it would take. She felt Sokka trying to pull her away.

“Just get out of here! Run!” Was he talking to her, or to everyone else? And were they seriously running away from their own friend? After a few moments, she felt Sokka letting go of her hand, and beginning to move back towards where they had been. Was Aang still there? Toph couldn’t feel him at all.

“Where are you going?” she shouted to Sokka. “What’s going on?”

“It’s the Avatar State,” Sokka shouted back. “Aang can’t control it—we have to calm him down before someone gets hurt!” She felt him moving back—towards Aang, though she couldn’t feel him. It was clear enough that Sokka didn’t want her nearby. But she followed him back into the wind, squinting her eyes shut. It wasn’t as though they’d help her, and she could feel the sand being blown around. Finally, she reached close to Sokka, and she thought she felt Aang again. Reaching close, she felt Aang sitting on the ground.

“It’s alright, Aang,” she heard Sokka say. “We’re all okay. We’ll all find Appa together.”

She stood by them for a moment, unsure what to say. It was an unprecedented situation for her, in more ways than one. “We know he’s in Ba Sing Se,” she finally told Aang. She thought she heard him crying. “We were already going there. We’ll find Appa, Twinkletoes.” She thought she heard a sob, and before she knew it, Sokka was guiding her into a three-way hug.

* * *

Li Han could only cower beside his brother and the sandbender woman while the Avatar tore up the dunes in a rage. It lasted only for a few moments, but it seemed to take forever to die down. But perhaps that was only the effect of fearing for your life, helpless to do anything. Finally, the wind subsided and Rahen, who had erected a sandy shield for them, looked to the Avatar and his friends. It appeared that everything had calmed down, though Sokka still shot the one named Gashiun as he appeared. Gashiun’s father quickly began speaking with Sokka and Rahen about arranging rides out of the desert for them.

Li Han sat despondently in the sand as they all spoke, shooting occasional glances at the female sandbender who Rahen had spoken with. They were speaking again, Rahen oozing exasperation. Li Han only wanted to go home; he was cut out for adventures in the desert. He couldn’t understand why his brother would be willing to spend so much time in such an awful place, but he wasn’t going to go looking for him again. Finally, Rahen and the female sandbender both walked over to him.

Li Han stood up, looking at his brother, and giving a quick glare at the sandbender who had knocked him unconscious the previous day. Rahen gave an embarrassed chuckle, causing Li Han to turn his glare to him. “Brother,” Rahen began. “I don’t know where to begin. But you were right. I shouldn’t have lost so much time out here, chasing shadows of a madman’s plans.” He paused, shaking his head. “I can’t say I regret doing it. Thanks to our efforts, the Avatar now has a plan to defeat the Firelord. It’s better than I ever could have hoped for.”

“Hm,” Li Han acknowledged. “And because of our adventure out here, he is also short one sky bison. A sky bison who, I might add, he seemed very fond of. Whatever it was you found to defeat the Firelord had better be worth it.” He turned his glare back to the female sandbender once again.

“I should’ve returned home,” Rahen said, drawing his attention back. “And, excepting that, I should have written to you. So you knew what was going on.” His face was soft, a slightly embarrassed smile forming behind his beard. “It was brave of you to come and look for me. I appreciate the gesture, Li.”

“I don’t feel brave,” Li Han said, thinking of how Rahen was, apparently, just fine in the desert. Of the Avatar’s missing bison. Of the sandbender who had attacked him, but stood all-too-closely to his brother’s side. “I feel like an idiot. A mildly concussed idiot.”

At least she looked ashamed. “Sorry,” she told him, rubbing the back of her head. “In all fairness, Rahen never did tell me what you actually look like.” Li Han’s face turned blank.

He turned to his brother. “So…how well do you two know each other, again?”

“I asked Ta Leri to marry me about a month ago,” Rahen told him, the woman smiling as she looked at him. Li Han’s jaw dropped. _So over the past few days, I got lost in the desert, got the Avatar’s bison stolen, and was knocked out by my future sister-in-law. Fantastic._

He met his brother’s fiancé’s eyes. She tried smiling. “I know what I did yesterday was…not great. But I promise it won’t be repeated—I’m leaving the desert tribes to be with your brother, and I only wanted to get us some more money so we could build a decent life together. Can we…I don’t know, start over?” Her eyes were a mixture of hope and trepidation. Li Han looked over to see Rahen’s own pleading expression.

Li Han sighed, offering a hand to Ta Leri. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ta Leri.” He raised an eyebrow. “This time.”

* * *

At some point, Zuko had fallen asleep. He and Katara had attempted multiple positions against the door, trying to find a way to listen in on Iroh’s meeting with the secret society. Eventually, he had fallen asleep against the door. He had dreams of flowers, a long trek through the Si Wong Desert, of following Katara through a dangerous swamp, and of talking dragons.

He was jolted awake as Uncle Iroh opened the door, leaving both him and Katara—who had fallen asleep next to him, also pressed against the door—to fall awake. Zuko instinctively jumped up into a firebending stance. Katara also scrambled to her feet, though she assumed a sheepish smile, one hand rubbing the back of her head. Uncle Iroh only raised an eyebrow at the two them.

“What's going on? Is the club meeting over‌?” Zuko asked.

“Everything is taken care of,” Uncle Iroh told him. “We're heading to Ba Sing Se.” Uncle Iroh and Fung bowed to each other.

“Ba Sing Se?” Zuko asked incredulously. “‌Why would we go to the Earth Kingdom capital‌?” He glanced at Katara, who looked away momentarily. It had already been a plan, then. His uncle and she must have already discussed it. And said nothing of it to him until now. He felt disappointment creeping in with a touch of betrayal. Why hadn’t they told him sooner? Why were they going to Ba Sing Se in the first place? Fire Nation royals, in the Earth Kingdom capital? It sounded like a recipe for disaster.

“The city is filled with refugees. No one will notice two more,” Fung said.

“We can hide in plain sight there,” Uncle Iroh said. “And it's the safest place in the world from the Fire Nation. Even I couldn't break through to the city.” He shrugged his shoulders, but Zuko couldn’t help but feel uncomforted.

Another man came through, holding papers for them. “I have the passports for our guests,” he told them. They each took their passports, looking over the documents. Zuko’s was the one titled “Li.” He swallowed. **“** _Never forget who you are.”_ Was he just supposed to forget? Become “Li” until the day he died, hiding behind the walls of Ba Sing Se? The thought didn’t feel right to him. Even if he wanted to sink into anonymity forever, something told him that he couldn’t.

“Hey,” Katara said quietly as Fung and Iroh arranged for two new ostrich-horses. He looked over to see her standing near him, large blue eyes looking worried. “Are you alright?”

He let out a breath. “You and Uncle always planned for us to hide out in Ba Sing Se,” he accused. Her mouth pressed together slightly, but she made no attempt to dispute it. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Your uncle thought that you wouldn’t cooperate,” she told him. “And to be fair, you don’t exactly have the best track record of listening to him. He just wants you to be safe. And so do I.”

Zuko frowned for a long moment before sighing. “You know I don’t like the idea of hiding out forever.”

“It won’t be forever,” she told him. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m coming too.” She held up her own passport, smiling slightly.

Zuko wouldn’t admit it, but that did make him feel a little better. He looked to the passport again, closing his eyes momentarily. He opened his eyes, nodding to Katara. “Come on.” The two teenagers went out, joining Uncle Iroh before the ostrich-horses. He got atop one, pointing over to the other.

“You two can share that one,” he told them, smiling. “It’ll go faster if I’m the only one on an ostrich-horse.” That had never bothered any of them before, but now they had two ostrich horses. Zuko just shrugged before getting atop the ostrich-horse and giving Katara a hand up.

It would be a few days of riding before they reached Full Moon Bay, where they would take a ferry to Ba Sing Se. To their new life as two of many refugees from the Fire Nation—their own Nation, Katara at their side. They would get what practice in that that they could along the way. Once they were in Ba Sing Se, Zuko realized with dismay, he would have little opportunity to practice his bending. It wouldn’t be reasonable in a city packed with refugees. But he needed to practice. Because, even though they were going to the ‘safest place in the world,’ Zuko somehow felt with certainty that they still wouldn’t be safe.

* * *

He had lost control of the Avatar State. Again.

It wasn’t the first time that it had happened, but somehow, this time bothered Aang even more than other times. He had come out of his rage crying, Sokka and Toph both offering him what comfort they could. He had simply knelt in the sand for a while. Even as his tears subsided, he remained seated in the hot sand. Everything faded away into a level of numbness. He wished that Katara were there—she had always known how to make a person feel better. Though, he suspected that now even she wouldn’t be able to make him feel better. Not really.

He wanted Appa back.

But Appa was, apparently, somewhere in Ba Sing Se. Aang let out a breath as he contemplated that piece of information. They had already been going to Bas Sing Se. To regroup with Katara. To deliver the information on the solar eclipse to the Earth King. Now they had yet another purpose in Ba Sing Se. Aang wanted to believe that they would find Appa there. That he would be reunited with his last bit pf family from his old life.

He couldn’t let himself.

No. If he let himself hope just to have it crushed again—what then? Aang stood up, observing the damage he had done in his latest Avatar State rampage. There was little physical evidence of it this time, just a few destroyed sand-sailers. The ever-shifting sands of the Si Wong Desert made the effects of his anger less apparent than had the solid ground of General Fong’s outpost, or the ice huts of the Northern Water Tribe. At least this time Aang hadn’t actually hurt anybody. Or worse.

But Aang could see the fear on the sandbenders’ faces as he stood up to look at them. Not all of them, he understood, had even been involved with stealing Appa. But they had all been terrified of him. Their leader was apologetic, shooting reprimanding glares at his son’s direction. Rahen and Li San stood aside with one of the sandbenders, a woman. Sokka was unhurt. Aang was relieved about that. He thought of when he had accidentally broken Sokka’s wrist. Aang was still upset about Appa, but the last thing he wanted was to hurt any of his friend.

Speaking of which…

Aang turned his gaze towards Toph. She stood in the sand, looking impatient. Aang let out a breath, face falling as he thought of his argument with her the day before. What had he been thinking? How could he accuse her of letting Appa be stolen. He raised a palm to his face, rubbing slightly as he groaned. He hadn’t even been in the Avatar State when he’d yelled at her. There was no excuse for treating his friend like that.

And, despite that, he knew she had come with Sokka to try to console him when he had entered the Avatar State. Did he ever explain the Avatar State to her?

He shook his head. Either way, he owed his friend an apology. He could only hope that she would be willing to forgive him after his behavior over the past day. He took a deep breath, trying to summon his courage. He walked over to her.

“Uh, hey Toph,” he said quietly. She turned towards him, folding her arms. It was quiet for a few moments as Aang tried to think of what to say to her.

“Are you feeling any better, Twinkletoes?” she asked him, grimacing.

“Uh, yeah.” _Not exactly._ “I’m not in the Avatar State anymore, so that’s good…”

“Avatar State,” she repeated. “It that what that was? With the wind, and the weird thing with your voice?”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. He tried to get a good look at her face. Had he managed to scare his fearless earthbending teacher, too? “It’s this thing where I sort of…merge with past Avatars. All of their knowledge sort of goes through me. Except, I can’t control it.”

“It just happens when you’re upset.”

He nodded. Then, unsure whether she could feel that, he said, “Yeah.” He looked around again. “Look, Toph…I just wanted to apologize.” He swallowed, and began rubbing his elbow. “I said things to you yesterday…things I shouldn’t have.”

“Yeah?” she asked, sarcasm dripping. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“I was being a complete jerk,” he admitted. He cast his eyes down, thinking back to Toph’s reaction as he had yelled at her. “I should thank you, too. We’d all be dead if it weren’t for you. I couldn’t see it at the time, but…” He sighed. “You did what you had to do.”

They were quiet again, and Aang couldn’t help but worry. What if she didn’t want to be his friend anymore? Or his earthbending teacher? But the next thing Aang knew, he was getting a soft punch to his shoulder. “Just remember that next time you have something to be mad about,” she told him. But her tone was as gentle as he had ever heard it. “You were a jerk, yesterday. But I guess…I understand that Appa means a lot to you. And you get to be angry of him being stolen. Just don’t take it out on us.”

“I won’t,” he promised. “I swear, I’ll never do that to you again.”

Toph smiled, small at first, then mischievous. “Never again, huh? Maybe I should test that out?” He folded his arms. “But, seriously, this isn’t forever. We’re going to Ba Sing Se. We’ll find Appa.” He swallowed. Before either of them could say anything else, Sokka walked over, along with Rahen, Li Han, and the female sandbender.

The female sandbender stepped forward, bowing, an expression of shame on her face. “Avatar,” she said. “I helped Gashiun steal your bison.” Aang clenched his jaw. But his jaw dropped as he felt Toph giving his hand a tight squeeze. “I know I can’t undo it, and there’s no good excuse, but I wanted you to know that I am sorry.”

“Yeah, you’d better be sorry!” Toph said. “Do you have any idea what you put him through?” She pointed to Aang.

But Aang shook his head. “It’s okay, Toph.”

“No, it’s not!”

“I’m done being angry,” he said. He saw Sokka raising an eyebrow. “All its done is hurt the people I care about.” He swallowed as he met the sandbender’s eyes. She did, at least, appear genuinely apologetic. “Why are you apologizing?”

“Because it was wrong.” She hung her head, and though she must have been ten years younger than him, she looked much like a shamed child confessing to their parent. “I hoped to build a new life with my husband-to-be, outside of this desert. But I failed to consider the people who I hurt in the process. So, I am sorry about stealing your bison.” She pulled out several pouches, handing them to Aang. He took one of the offered pouches, looking inside. It was full of money—gold. He looked up to her. “This is what we received for selling your bison.” Aang clutched it tighter, forcing himself to remain calm. _Appa is worth more than any money._ “We can only tell you that he was going to be taken to Ba Sing Se. But we hoped that perhaps this money can help you get your bison back.”

“He’s my friend,” he said blankly. But he sighed, taking the pouches. Maybe she was right. If nothing else, perhaps the spare coin could at least help them get to Ba Sing Se, which was now a harder task without Appa to fly them there.

_Appa…where are you?_

Sokka frowned between Rahen and the sandbender. “Future husband?” He blinked. “That…explains so much.” He shook his head quickly, turning back to Aang and Toph. “The sandbenders are going to give us a ride out of the desert, towards Ba Sing Se. It should only be a few more days, okay? Then we can meet up with Katara and find Appa. We’ll all be together again.” Sokka placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Right…” Aang said. He looked over to Rahen and Li Han. “It’s been…” Had any of his other attempts to help people ended so strangely?

“I must thank you again, Avatar,” Li Han said, bowing to him. “And I’m sorry how this all ended.” He grimaced. “As glad as I am to be reunited with my brother…and to meet my future sister-in-law,” he continued, rubbing where she had hit him the previous day, “I hope it doesn’t offend you if I say that I hope that we never meet again.”

“No,” Sokka jumped in. “I think we can all get behind that.” But he grinned. “Hopefully you’ll never need our help again.” He checked that he had all of his maps, then he went to board one of the sand-sailers.

Aang nodded, meeting the eye of the sandbender woman. He never wanted to go into the Avatar State again. It was best that he got out of the desert, away from the people who had taken his oldest friend.

Beside him, Toph walked, getting onto the sand-sailer with him. She blew at the fringe of hair over her face. “You know, Twinkletoes,” she told him. “I think we’re going to need a better way of choosing vacations in the future.” Aang snorted. But then he smiled, looking over to his friend.

“There’s a lake on the way. I’ve heard it makes for good swimming.”

“I don’t know how to swim.”

“I can teach you.”

“I think I’ll stick to playing in the sand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. I hope everyone enjoyed this one. I've mentioned before, the way I work with fanfics, if I write stuff, post it, then go back and revise. So if there's anything bothering you about any of my chapters, please feel free to comment on it. I will read your comments and consider anything said as I do revisions. And I hope the OCs weren't too much of a pain for anyone. I try to keep them to a minimum, but these guys kinda spawned. But OCs will continue to be a minor part of the fic, and this is probably about as heavy as they'll ever be in the fic.  
> Anyways, onto Ba Sing Se! Next chapter we get a few old friends back. :D


	20. Part 3 Chapter 4: To Ba Sing Se

The secret door to Full Moon Bay opened with a rumble, and Iroh, Zuko, and Katara walked into the ferry station. Katara observed the area with sympathy. "I can't believe how many people's lives have been uprooted by the Fire Nation," she said, looking at all of the refugees. _And this is just in a day_ , she thought. It was so many people.

"They are all hoping to build new lives under the protection of the walls of Ba Sing Se," Iroh said, moving forward. "Now, we must do the same." He looked meaningfully at Zuko, who sighed, folding his arms, before he and Katara followed Iroh to the people in charge of tickets. They waited in line, trying to act calm. Katara wondered if Zuko, who glanced around the ferry station every minute, had similar worries as she did. That something would go wrong; someone would recognize Iroh and Zuko. Azula, or those Rough Rhinos would suddenly show up. It had, after all, been almost too smooth sailing since they had gotten their passports from Iroh's secret society friends. Their travel to Full Moon Bay had been uneventful, leaving Zuko and Katara plenty of opportunity to practice with each other.

But, no. They reached the ticket station without incident. Katara tried to put on an innocent smile as Iroh handed the ticket lady their passports. She had a scowl on her face as she looked over their passports. As the seconds passed by, Katara felt her heartbeat quickening. "I'm Li," Zuko began introducing them, and Katara restrained a wince. "This is Katara and Mushi."

"So I assumed," the ticket lady said. Finally, she gave them their tickets, waving them off with impatience. "NEXT!" As they turned away and went to get in line, Katara let out a little breath. Things were actually working out according to plan. Rather than being a comfort, the fact just made Katara more anxious. In her experience, plans never worked out as they'd planned them. Something always went wrong in the middle. She was still waiting for things to go wrong, for some unexpected complication to suddenly come up. But she waited beside Zuko and Iroh, holding what little they had as they waited for their ferry to allow them to board.

A few times, Katara found her eyes drawn to a few of the women working security in the station. Something about them seemed vaguely familiar to Katara, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. It wasn't just one of them, but several.

"Is something wrong?" Zuko whispered to her. She turned her gaze away from the women and back to him. He was sitting very close by, and his eyes met hers. She could see him readjusting his position, readying himself to jump into action if she said that there was a problem.

She shook her head. "No. I just thought someone looked familiar." Zuko hesitated, then nodded sharply. Finally, the call went out for them to board the ferry. They stood up, walked closely together so as not to get separated in the crowd. _So many people_ , she thought again as the ferry began to take off. How, it occurred to her, was she going to find Sokka and Aang in Ba Sing Se?

Had she looked back to the ferry station just then, she may have seen them enter though the secret door.

* * *

Suki let out a huff of breath as she listened to Nori's latest complaints about the ticket lady, about the running of the Full Moon Bay ferry. She could only nod sympathetically. I am an elite warrior, trained from childhood…and I am working as security in a ferry station run by a zealous lizard-crab lady. She patted Nori on the back, trying to smile and assure her that they were doing the right thing.

Walking away from her sister warrior, she frowned with disappointment. She and the other Kyoshi Warriors had left their island full of dreams of helping people, of helping to end the war. Instead, they had mostly spent their time at the ferry station, watching a woman act too strict. She couldn't say how many times she had seen needy refugees turned away because their documents weren't in order, how many times she had seen someone walking away with ink stamped on their foreheads because they'd attempted to argue.

Suki understood the need for security. Of course—Ba Sing Se was the last real stronghold against the Fire Nation, the only place that was still safe. But Suki couldn't help but feel that she and her warriors were wasted at the ferry station. Surely the station would still be safe without them.

Surely, there was more they were meant for.

She went about as she did any other day. For a moment, she paused, looking to someone walking onto one of the ferries. There was a girl who looked vaguely familiar. Vaguely Water Tribe. Suki craned her neck, trying to get a better look at the girl. She couldn't be certain…

But it was impossible. Her ever-increasing irritation with her position must have been making her imagine things.

Suki shook her head, trying to dismiss it. She went back to overseeing the lines by the ticket stand. Within minutes, however, another strange sight came. It wasn't unusual for people to dress like an Air Nomad, claiming that they were the Avatar as they asked for a ticket. They were all imposters and recognized as such; they were never given tickets, and were often lucky to avoid getting stamped on their foreheads.

But this one looked familiar. The shape of the bald head, the precise coloring of the monk's clothing. There was also the lemur—none of the other "Avatars" had been able to recreate Momo.

Then there was Sokka.

Suki felt an anxious fluttering in her stomach as she saw the young Water Tribesman beside his young friend. None of the imposters had ever tried to bring any of Aang's friends along. Suki walked along, trying to get a better view of Sokka…

She grinned. It _was_ him!

But she restrained herself, instead observing them. There was a new girl, dressed in green, with her dark hair pulled into a thick bun. Katara wasn't there, Suki noticed. But maybe she was just waiting for them out of the line. The ticket lady was clearly unimpressed with them, scowling. "NEXT!" she called.

But before anyone else could step forward, the girl in green stepped up and began talking to the ticket lady. Suki grimaced; this was exactly the sort of thing that tended to result in people walking around with ink on their foreheads. But, to her surprise, the ticket lady actually seemed to be swayed, looking awed and almost intimidated. Suki blinked. _How is she doing that? I wish I could do that._

She moved forward, to listen in, to go to her friends…to Sokka.

"Well, normally it's only one ticket per passport," she heard the ticket lady saying, "but this document is so official…I guess it's worth four tickets." Suki blinked. _How…?_

But she smiled as Aang, Sokka, and their new friend began walking away, to get in line for the ferry. It would be good to see them again. To see Sokka, again. She thought of their few days together back on Kyoshi Island. Of how her opinion of him had slowly morphed. Of the kiss she had given him before he had to leave.

Yes, it would be good to see Sokka again.

"Alright," she heard him saying. "We scammed that lady good!" She frowned. _Are you trying to get into trouble, Sokka?_ Then she smirked slightly as an idea came to her. Quickly, she schooled her expression to strictness. She came up to Sokka from behind him, yanking him backwards to face her from his tunic. His eyes widened as he met her harsh stare, and she put out her hand expectantly.

"Tickets and passports please," she said. She stared him down, refraining from smiling as she wished to. Would he recognize her, or would she have to give him a hint? He never had seen her without her facepaint. But he was as recognizable as ever, with his deep blue eyes and angled jaw. He still had his wolftail. His tunic was different- it cut off from the shoulders, leaving his arms bare. She would have to wait until later to admire that change.

"Is there a problem?" Sokka asked her, a tinge of nervousness leaking through his tone. So, he didn't recognize her, then. _This'll be fun._

"Yeah, I got a problem with you!" She pointed her finger at his chest. "I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar."

Sokka squinted his eyes at her for an instant before raising an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

"You mean you don't remember?" she asked, trying to sound upset. She grabbed his tunic, pulling him forward. "Maybe you'll remember this!" With his tunic still in her hand, she kissed his cheek. _Now do you remember?_

Sokka looked stunned for a moment before a huge grin appeared on his face. "Suki!" He embraced her and she hugged him back.

As they separated, she smiled. "Sokka, it's good to see you!" For more reasons than one. Aside from the fact that she was happy to get to spend at least a little bit more time with him, she was also relieved to see that he was okay. She knew that he was in danger by merit of travelling with the Avatar. And she had heard that there had been a battle at the North Pole. It was nice to have definitive proof that Sokka was still alright.

"Hi, Suki." She stepped away from Sokka's embrace to see Aang offering her a smile. Something about it seemed a little bit duller than she remembered. She wondered if he was feeling alright. Then again, she thought, maybe fighting a war at twelve years old is just wearing on him. But she smiled, because it was nice to see the young Avatar as well.

"Hey, Aang."

"Can I get an introduction, here?" came the girl in green's voice. Suki looked to her. She was short, looking to be around Aang's age. Suki blinked as she saw the girl's eyes—they were clouded over.

"This is Suki," Sokka said, smiling as he pointed to her. "She's a…friend from Kyoshi Island. One of the best warriors I've ever known." Suki grinned, chest swelling with pride. Sokka turned to Suki, pointing to Toph. "And this is Toph. She's Aang's earthbending master."

"Really?" Suki asked her. "But you seem so—"

"Blind?"

"I was going to say young." She smirked. "Which just makes it more impressive that you've mastered earthbending enough to teach the Avatar."

Toph grinned. "I like her," she told Aang and Sokka.

"Yeah," Sokka said, "Me too." Suki blushed, but Sokka only just seemed to realize what he'd said. Suki opened her mouth, trying to think of what to say, but Sokka's face fell. He looked almost ashamed as he looked away from her. Suki's brow furrowed at the expression, wondering what Sokka was thinking of. But then he turned back to her, a smile on his face as if the previous moment had never happened. "Maybe we should find somewhere else to talk. We've still got plenty of time until our ferry leaves."

"Of course," she said. "I know the perfect place to sit and talk." She waved at them to follow her. It would only be the moment after that that it would occur to her that they shouldn't need a ferry—they had Appa. But, she supposed, they had plenty to catch up on. She could figure it out then.

A few minutes later, they were atop the wall overlooking the bay. It was empty besides them, so it was comfortable to talk. "So…how have you been since we saw each other?" she asked. "It feels like it was a long time ago." Her face fell as she noticed Aang and Sokka wince. That couldn't be a good sign.

"It's uh…" Sokka rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. It feels like a long time. A lot's happened since we last talked." But then he smiled—a very forced looking smile—and said, "I can't believe I didn't recognize you."

"It was all good fun," she told him. "I know you've never seen me without my makeup before." She frowned at her security uniform. "That crabby lady won't let my warriors and I wear our own uniforms and makeup. But look at you, sleeveless guy. Been working out?" Free to do so, she took the opportunity to admire his arms. Had they always been so well-toned? She had never seen him with short sleeves, so she would hardly know.

And the comment seemed to improve Sokka's mood. "Ahhh, I'll grab a tree branch and do a few chin touches every now and then. Nothing major." As he spoke, he made gestures, showing off his arms. Yes, it was very good to see him again.

"Are the other Kyoshi Warriors around?" Aang asked.

"Yeah," she told him. "After you left Kyoshi, we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting some refugees and we've been here ever since." It was more helpful than sitting out the war on Kyoshi Island. Still, she couldn't help but feel that she and her warriors weren't being properly utilized. Momo jumped up next to her. "Hi, Momo! Good to see you too!" She scratched his head. Lemurs were definitely one of the cuter animals she had encountered. It helped that Momo wouldn't be able to eat her, even if he wanted to. She turned her attention back to her friends. "So why are you guys getting tickets for the ferry? Wouldn't you just fly across on Appa?" The question had been weighing on her since it had occurred to her. At once, everyone went silent for a minute.

Sokka took the plunge. "It's a long story, but Appa was stolen. Last we heard, he was being sold to someone in Ba Sing Se."

Her eyes widened. "I'm so sorry to hear that." She looked to Aang. "Are you doing okay?" She remembered how attached the boy had been to his bison. Appa had been one of his last friends from before he was frozen.

Aang looked up at her question, but then he scowled. "I'm doing fine. Would everybody stop worrying about me?" That wasn't good. The Aang she remembered was cheerful, and difficult to anger. Not glum and snappy. She looked over to Sokka, who sighed.

But before anyone could say anything else, a heavily pregnant woman called to them from below. "Avatar Aang, you have to help us! Someone took all of our belongings—our passports, our tickets, everything's gone!" Aang and the others appeared to be familiar with the woman.

"I'll talk to the lady for you," Aang said, walking down the steps to get back in line. Suki grimaced.

"What are the odds that that lady actually listens?" Toph asked, crossing her arms.

"Not good," Suki said. "She's one of the strictest persons I've ever met." She looked over sympathetically as she saw the pregnant woman standing beside the man who must have been the father of her child and another relative. Suki looked back over to Sokka. "Hey…where's Katara."

Sokka took a deep breath. "I don't exactly know. We were separated."

Suki's eyes widened for a moment. "What, you mean when you lost Appa?"

"No," Sokka said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We lost Katara at a different time, further back." Sokka shook his head. "We didn't even know she was alive until about two weeks ago. Except, while she was separated from us, she…made some friends." Suki couldn't help but notice a touch of irritation in Sokka's tone as he said 'friends.' "One of her friends got injured when we were reunited. She refused to leave them when one of them was hurt. So we agreed to meet up in Ba Sing Se."

"Wow," Suki said. She looked down a moment, trying to think of what to say. "I'm sure Katara is alright…" She blinked as she recalled what she had seen just earlier. "I think I may've seen her."

"What?" Sokka's eyes brightened, and he stepped forward. "When?"

"Just earlier. It must've been minutes before you got here."

"Are you serious?!" Sokka sounded almost upset. "Why? How can we be right on her heels and still miss her?" He smacked his palm to his forehead.

"I'm sure you'll find her," Suki assured him. Though, Ba Sing Se was a big city. Somehow she doubted that finding each other would be easy. "Is there any other urgent mission waiting for you in Ba Sing Se?" Hopefully, they had time to spare…they were probably going to need it.

"As a matter of fact," Sokka said. "We have important information for the Earth King. Something that could turn the tide of the war."

Suki raised her eyebrows. "Wow. You guys really have been busy."

"We find new trouble everywhere we go," Toph said. "I haven't even been here long, but I've got that much figured out." But the young earthbender had a slight smile on her face. Once again, Suki couldn't help but feel that her warriors' skills weren't being put to good use.

"Hey, guys?" Aang's voice came. They turned to see him walking up the steps to them. Suki gave him a sympathetic look as she observed the smeared ink stamp on his forehead, a matching smear on his robe. "The ticket lady won't give Ying and her family new tickets." He sighed. "I promised them that we'd escort them through the Serpent's Pass." Suki's eyes widened, her breath catching for just a moment.

"You what?!" Sokka asked. "Aang, what part of deadly route did you not understand?"

"The part where we abandon an innocent family," Aang said. "Sokka, we have to help them. There's no other way to Ba Sing Se for them now." He paused. "Also, I already gave up my ticket. I'm helping them."

Toph snorted. "That's one way to ask us," she said. "I'm in. This Serpent's Pass can't be so tough."

Sokka sighed. "Well, what choice do I have? Alright, deadly route, here we come." Yes, that was Sokka, the boy Suki liked…a lot. But she found that she was uncomfortable with the idea of him crossing the Serpent's Pass alone with Aang and Toph. They didn't have Appa. They didn't even have Katara. Suki walked down the stairs.

"I really need to talk to my warriors," she told them. Her gaze settled on Sokka for a moment. His expression dulled as she walked away. "I'll be out in a bit."

"We were hoping to leave soon," Aang said, but she ignored him. It wouldn't take long.

Within a few minutes, she had found Nori, Oyen, and Kyeri. She pulled them aside to the dressing rooms, speaking quickly as she pulled out her warrior dress and began changing.

"The Avatar is here?" Nori asked, eyes wide. "You're sure?"

"I spent time talking to him," she told them. "So, yes."

"Was it the Avatar you spoke to, or was it Sokka?" She didn't need to look in order to see the teasing glint in Kyeri's eyes.

"Both of them. Look, they're going to Ba Sing Se, and they're going to be escorting some refugees who lost their passports across Serpent's Pass."

"Crossing Serpent's Pass?" Oyen asked. "From what I've heard, that's a great way to commit suicide. Ow! Hey!" Suki wondered whether it had been Kyeri or Nori to elbow Oyen. She began doing her makeup. "Why don't they just fly across on their sky bison?"

"Appa is missing," she told her sisters. "And so is Sokka's sister."

"Oh no," Kyeri said. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I'm not sure—they hope to find their missing friends in Ba Sing Se." She went silent as she began painting her lips. When she was satisfied, she switched to painting on her eyelids. "I think we've done about as much good as we can here. It's time for us to reach out into the real fight."

"Finally," she heard Nori murmur.

"Tell the others," she ordered. "I'll be gone for a while. I'm going with Sokka and the Avatar to cross Serpent's Pass. For now, try to do what you can around Full Moon Bay." Fully dressed and fully adorned with the Kyoshi Warrior's traditional makeup, she stepped out to face her sisters. Nori was eagerly pulling out her things to change back into her own warrior's dress.

"But Suki," Kyeri said, brows furrowed. "When will you be back?"

She took a deep breath, looking at her sister warriors, and thinking of the Avatar and Sokka. "I don't know…If you don't hear from me in a month, come and find me in Ba Sing Se."

* * *

Jet stood on a ferry full of refugees and he was silent.

He toyed with the piece of straw in his mouth, contemplating what had brought him to the Full Moon Bay ferry. He didn't dare think too far back in his past…back to where it had all begun. But he thought of his makeshift family. Of their home in the trees. Of their war against the Fire Nation.

He thought of how it had all gone wrong.

It was his mistakes that had cost them. He thought of Katara, who had glared so fiercely at him as she had pinned him to a tree. _"Jet, you monster!"_ He could hear the barrels of blasting jelly exploding, destroying the dam and letting loose a flood into the colony of Gaipan. Sokka had stopped him…but Katara had still left him on that tree.

Nothing had been the same after that. Some of the other kids, upon hearing what Jet had done, had frowned and simply walked away. Jet had argued and argued, but the more he did, the more children walked away from him. But his original gang had stuck by him. At first. Then Sneers left. And Jet had to lead them out of the forest by Gaipan—the Fire Nation was unamused by their attempt to flood the city. Jet still wanted to fight, but The Duke was almost hurt. That was when Pipsqueak had picked The Duke up, placed him upon his shoulders, and walked away.

Now it was only Jet, Longshot, and Smellerbee.

The loss of the rest of his gang dispirited him, though he hated the Fire Nation as much as ever. But at least he still had Longshot and Smellerbee. If he could only have two friends—family members—left, then he was glad it was them. They had nothing left. The old gang was gone, their home was gone. The only thing to do, they decided, was to go to Ba Sing Se. Try to build new lives, sheltered from the war. Jet clenched his jaw. It didn't feel right to him. Doing nothing.

Not that anything he had done had actually accomplished much, in the end.

_"Jet, you monster!"_

He groaned, rubbing his eyes slightly. "You okay?" he heard Smellerbee ask him. He looked to his side, offering her a smile.

"I'm fine," he reassured her. "I guess I'm just thinking about how we ended up here." He turned to the side, frowning as he noticed a boy his age standing by the rail of the ferry. Even though Jet only had a view of the side of the boy's face, Jet could see a large burn scar over his eye. He heard the boy speaking to an older man beside him. Wordlessly, Jet told Smellerbee to be quiet; he wanted to listen to these two. Longshot, as usual, needed no request to be silent.

The old man said something which seemed to upset the young man. "Look around. We're not tourists, we're refugees." Jet observed the boy sip the soup given to the refugees on the ferry. A second later he spat it out. _Well, there's something we can agree on already._ "Ugh! I'm sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt. I'm tired of living like this!"

 _That's my cue_ , Jet decided. "Aren't we all? My name's Jet and these are my Freedom Fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot." He stepped forward, indicating his friends as he introduced them. As the boy and man turned, Jet could see the full scar. It was a dramatic thing, covering his left eye and extending into his hairline. Jet wondered if he could actually see out of that eye…and the exact manner in which he had gotten it. But he knew the basics.

"Hey," Smellerbee said. Longshot just nodded, a warm welcome by his standard.

"Hello," the scarred boy said. He made no effort to introduce himself, however.

"Here's the deal," Jet said. "I hear the captain's eating like a king while the refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?" It wasn't how things had ever worked with the Freedom Fighters.

"What sort of king is he eating like?" the old man asked.

"The fat, happy kind." Jet watched as the man's jaw dropped. He thought he some a bit of drool. "You want to help us "liberate" some food?" He looked at the scarred boy, gauging his reaction…

And then a stream of water rose over the boy and old man, blasting Jet onto the floor.

* * *

Katara had been gone for two minutes when the boy named Jet started speaking to him. "I don't think this is safe to eat," she had said, giving a disgusted look at the bowl they had been given. She had gone to ask the ferrymen if there was anything else for the passengers to eat. Zuko doubted they would listen, but he had let her go. It gave him opportunity to set his uncle straight, anyways.

Until Jet butted in.

But he did make a good point. Zuko had glared at the bowl of…he wasn't entirely sure what it was. Not anything he wanted to eat. And I used to think my fish on the raft were bad. Iroh was clearly hungry, and the food that had been passed out to the passengers of the ferry was hardly edible. Zuko tossed the bowl over the side of the ferry, turning around to tell Jet that he'd help him. But before he could get a word out of his mouth, water rose up from the bay, flowing over Zuko and his uncle's heads, smacking Jet down onto the floor of the ferry.

Zuko's eyes widened as he saw Katara. "Jet!" she snarled. She knew this guy?

"Katara, wait!" Jet pleaded. He tried to get up. Zuko couldn't help but wince sympathetically as he was rewarded with another blast of water to his face. "I've changed!" Zuko scowled as he observed the scene. Whoever Jet was, he'd really managed to infuriate Katara. It didn't make him look any better to Zuko.

"Tell it to some other girl, Jet!" Katara spat, glaring at the boy. Behind him, Longshot held back an upset Smellerbee from intervening. What had Jet done to make Katara so angry? Zuko thought back to his own early encounters with Katara. Of course, she hadn't liked him much either before they were stuck on that raft together. The next moment, Katara had turned the water around Jet into ice, trapping him on the floor.

"Katara, let me go!" he said from the floor. "Please, I'm not here to fight you! Or anything—I didn't even know you were here, I swear!" He struggled to escape from his icy confines.

"It's true," Smellerbee said, finally stepping forward. She held her hands up placatingly as she walked closer. Katara did not drop her waterbending stance. "Things have changed since we last saw each other. We're not…doing the same things we used to. We're just refugees now. Like everyone else here."

Katara's eyes narrowed. "And I'm just supposed to believe you?" She shook her head. "Whatever you're really here for, it can't be anything good." Smellerbee looked almost ashamed; Longshot appeared as stoic as he had been when Jet had introduced him.

"It's the truth," Jet insisted. He was slowly cracking the thin layer of ice pinning him down. Zuko found himself stepping forward, ready to help Katara if it came to a fight…

Uncle Iroh grabbed his hand, pulling him back. Zuko shot him a glance, but his uncle just gave him a small shake of his head. Zuko growled; of course. He couldn't start a fight on the ferry. Especially not with his firebending. Still, he put a hand near his Dao swords.

But Katara seemed to have it under her own control.

"As if I have any reason to trust you," she said to Jet. "You may've fooled me in the past, but I won't fall for your lies again."

"I'm sorry about what happened then, Katara," Jet said. "I was a troubled person and I let my anger get out of control, but I'm done with all of that! Smellerbee and Longshot are all I have left. We aren't out to…to repeat what we did before."

Uncle Iroh grasped Katara's elbow before she could say or do anything in response. She turned to look at him, but Uncle Iroh just smiled peaceably at the fighting teenagers. He's had plenty of practice, Zuko couldn't help but think. "Let's all calm down. We can all sit down and enjoy a cup of tea with our new friends and discuss whatever troubles we may have." Katara glared at Jet for a few more moments before she liquified the ice she had pinning Jet down, leaving him still soaking wet. She raised her chin slightly.

"I'm _not_ sitting down and having tea with him," she stated. She stared as Jet was helped to his feet by Smellerbee and Longshot. She looked to Iroh, who sighed, but nodded in acceptance of her decision. Then, she turned to look at Zuko, before she walked away from the group. Zuko turned to see Iroh pulling out his spark rocks and teapot. Zuko looked as Jet for a moment, who sat down, leaving space for Zuko to sit. But Zuko turned and followed after Katara.

"Hey!" Coming up next to her, he also grabbed her elbow, trying to get her to stop walking. She paused, looking down to where his hand grasped her arm. The moment seemed to last before Zuko's cheeks reddened, and he let go. "What was that back there?" he asked her quietly. "I'm not sure I've ever seen you that angry. Except, maybe…well…" He rubbed the back of his head, recalling their fights at the North Pole.

Katara raised an eyebrow, looking almost amused for an instant. "I was only gone for two minutes. I can't believe you managed to find…this."

"I didn't do anything," Zuko said. "He just came to us and started talking."

Katara shook her head. The she frowned, looking down for a moment before she leaned in close, meeting Zuko's eyes."Jet can't be trusted. He's a master at spinning nice stories, telling you what you want to hear…getting you to do what he wants. But he's dangerous."

Zuko blinked. "What happened between you and him?" He frowned as Katara suddenly looked away, looking almost embarrassed.

"Nothing happened between us," she insisted.

Zuko frowned, trying to figure out that claim. Katara wouldn't be attacking him if "nothing" had happened. Zuko felt an odd sensation in his gut as a new thought occurred to him. "Was…was he your boyfriend or something?"

Katara's eyes widened. "N-no! Jet was not my boyfriend!"

"Right, sorry." Zuko breathed a bit easier. "What's the problem, then?"

Katara moved her head to the side a bit, looking past Zuko. He turned, seeing that Uncle Iroh was still talking to Jet and his friends. Zuko turned back to Katara. "Don't trust them," she said. "I'll keep watch on them from over here."

Zuko grimaced. "Fine. Don't tell me." He let out a breath before he turned around. "I'll be careful." He walked back to his uncle and Jet. He scowled as he sat near them.

"I'm sorry about that," Jet said, looking over to where Katara was. "I was a different person when I met her. I guess she's still mad at me."

"What did you do?" Zuko asked.

Jet looked down. He looked remorseful, but Zuko had spent enough time with Azula to know that his own judgement of others' truthfulness could be faulty. "It's a long story," Jet said. "All you need to know is that I wasn't entirely honest with her. But those days are over…I'm different now."

Zuko took a cup of tea that Iroh handed him, but he did not drink, instead continuing to stare down Jet. "It must have been some lie," he said. "Katara's fierce as a rhino-lion, but I've never seen her go off on someone for no reason."

Jet grimaced, looking down into his teacup. "Yeah…maybe you should ask her about it. I can only say that my intentions were good." He frowned, looking back up to Zuko and his uncle. "I never even got your names."

"I'm Mushi," Uncle Iroh introduced himself. "And this is my nephew, Li. Or Junior."

"It's Li," Zuko said, frowning.

Jet nodded. "So, what are you guys doing with Katara, anyways? Last time I saw her, she was travelling with the Avatar and her brother." Zuko clenched his jaw at the mention of the Avatar.

"That's another long story," Zuko told him. "Maybe you should ask her." He took a sip of Uncle Iroh's tea, smiling slightly as he did so.

Jet stared blankly. "You know that wouldn't end well." The two teenage boys stared at each other for a moment, neither yielding. Jet raised his eyebrows before looking away. "Right…before Katara interrupted, I asked you a question. You didn't actually get a chance to answer. Tonight, we'll be getting food for everyone. Good food, not the toxic scraps they've been giving. Are you in?"

Zuko frowned. It was a familiar situation. It felt all too much like when he had put on his mask and robbed various people in the Earth Kingdom. But, he thought, this would only be food. Just to make sure they were able to eat for the night. He looked over to Uncle Iroh, who raised a patient eyebrow. But his uncle said nothing for or against it. Zuko looked to Jet and his friends; Katara didn't trust them. That, in itself, was a worrying idea. He turned around, surveying the hungry refugees, sharing bowls of the nasty food they had been given. Finally, he saw Katara, observing them from the side.

They all deserved better.

He turned back to Jet. "I'm in," he said. "But I'm not trusting you, understood? You give me the slightest reason to suspect you're a threat, and we're done."

Jet grinned. "Understood. You won't regret this."

* * *

Sokka, Aang, and Toph were already leaving with the refugees by the time Suki was prepared to leave. She ran up to them. "I'm coming too!" she announced. They turned around to see her. To Suki's surprise, Sokka looked almost upset at the thought that she was coming.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked. His eyes were downcast. _What?_ For a moment, Suki wondered if she had terribly misread the situation. After all, they had only known each other for a few days. She had been the one to kiss him—both times. Perhaps he didn't like her as much as she thought he did…

"Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come," was all she said. She still wanted to go—to keep both him and the Avatar safe.

"I do, it's just—" Now Suki was sure that he was upset by something.

"Just what?" Sokka hadn't been like this when she'd known him on Kyoshi Island. He'd been energetic, sweet (once he got past his misogyny), and surprisingly brilliant for someone who could be so idiotic. He had quickly absorbed what she had to teach him, and had been motivated to be a better warrior, to fight to Fire Nation. Now he seemed strangely worried—Suki couldn't understand why.

"Nothing," he said, though his tone said something very different. "I'm glad you're coming." Without another word, he resumed walking. Suki shot a glance at Aang, whose sympathetic gaze followed Sokka. Noticing that Suki was still standing there, Aang offered her a small smile.

"We're glad to have you," he said. She smiled and the two rejoined the others, but Suki's face fell as she walked. There was something wrong, and she didn't know what. It was easy to attribute Sokka's strange behavior to the separation from his sister, but Suki felt that there was something else on Sokka's mind.

* * *

It had all been going fine, until a rock fell from beneath Than. Suki could do nothing as Than began to fall. Thankfully, Toph was fast enough to pull back the rock to catch him before he could fall far. She used it to lift Than back onto the path with them, before releasing the rock to fall into the water.

Naturally, the Fire Nation ship noticed.

"They've spotted us! Let's go, let's go!" Sokka shouted, urging everyone onwards. Aang took his glider, going out to deflect the blasts aimed at them. The next thing Suki knew, there was a rumble above her; one of the fireballs had hit the pass. Suki felt herself being tackled to the ground, the hard rock beneath her. She heard the characteristic crack of earthbending, and a handful of large stones were diverted from falling on Sokka, instead being dropped into the bay.

The next thing Suki knew, Sokka was grabbing her hand, pulling her up quickly. "Suki, are you okay? You have to be more careful! Come on!" And he began pulling her along the pass. Suki could only blink incredulously before she pulled her hand from hi, running beside him. She glanced at Sokka as they ran. What was he doing? There was no need for such an…intense reaction to the rocks. Sure, there had been a danger. But he had seemed almost desperate as he pulled her up and practically ordered her to run. Why was Sokka acting to strange?

Hours later, the sun was setting; they set up camp. Suki observed the others silently. Aang was sitting off to the side of everyone else, lost in thought. Toph also sat alone, Sokka sitting nearby, keeping his own attentive eye on his younger friends. Than was rubbing his pregnant wife's feet, while his sister sat near them in companionable silence. Suki made to prepare her spot to sleep, laying down her sleeping bag.

Sokka came over to her. "Suki, you shouldn't sleep there. Who knows how stable this ledge is, it could give away at any moment!" _He can't be serious_ , she thought. _Is this a joke?_ But Sokka grabbed up her sleeping bag and moved it away from the ledge.

"Sokka, I'm _fine_ , stop worrying!" she told him, alarm coming out in her voice. Just what was this odd behavior? He hadn't done anything like this back at Kyoshi Island. He had initially doubted her abilities as a warrior because she was a girl, but she could have sworn that he'd grown past that. But this was extreme, even if she accepted the theory that he had reverted to his previous sexism.

"You're right, you're right, you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself!" The words were rushed, and he hardly seemed assured of his own words, but Suki still relaxed. But a moment later, Sokka was blocking her from her sleeping bag, freaking out. "Wait! Oh, never mind, I thought I saw a spider, but, you're fine." Suki could only deflate in exasperation as she watched him walk off. No doubt, he would be up all night, watching everyone else for the slightest—the absolute slightest sign of trouble. Even if "trouble" was a spider.

* * *

As night fell, Jet prepared his group for their heist. Smellerbee and Longshot were silent, as usual, with Smellerbee only occasionally offering input. Li was quieter still, narrowed eyes never quite leaving Jet's. They all knew their parts in the heist…

Before they could leave, Katara came up to them. Jet frowned as she glared at him again. _Yeah, definitely still mad._ But her eyes softened slightly as she turned her focus to Li. "What are you doing?" she asked him quietly. "I told you not to trust Jet."

"It's not trust," Li whispered, though Jet could still hear them both. He was, after all, right there. "But the people on this ferry deserve to eat real food—not that stuff from earlier. You said yourself, it's probably not safe to eat."

Katara was silent for a moment. "Haven't we already had this discussion?" Jet frowned. What did that mean?

"This is not the same," Li argued quietly. "This is necessity. It's only food; the captain is hoarding supplies, while the rest of us are being given scraps." He crossed his arms as he waited for Katara to respond.

Katara glanced around, and stared at Jet for a moment. "It's just about the food," he assured.

She scoffed. "I don't need your word about this." She took a breath, looking to Li. "Fine. What can I do to help?"

Jet blinked. He hadn't expected that. "You want to help?"

Apparently, Li had similar thoughts, asking her the same question.

"Yes, I'm helping…if only so I can keep and eye on Jet." He eyes softened slightly. "Besides, the passengers do deserve to eat something that won't make them sick."

"Great," Jet said, grimacing as Katara's face turned fierce again. "Li, she's with you. Is that alright?" Li just nodded as Katara stood beside him.

Jet, Smellerbee, Li, and Katara snuck through the ship, Jet leading the way. They moved quickly, but silently. Katara, he noticed, was just beside Li. She wasn't as experienced in stealth, but Li appeared to be guiding her through it. She emulated his actions well, and their movements, before long, were like a mirror image. _How long have they known each other?_ Jet wondered idly, as they waited for guards to pass. Smellerbee stood watch outside as they snuck into the food storage area. It was everything Jet had heard it to be. Fully stocked with food of far better quality than the refugees would ever see.

_Except for tonight._

The three of them began collecting food in silence, grabbing as much as they could carry. Jet observed Li and Katara, though he tried to keep his focus on Li. He looked like he knew what he was doing with his Dao swords. Jet wondered how long the other boy had been fighting with them.

"Guard's coming!" he heard Smellerbee whisper-shout. Within moments, the three of them were out of the food storage room. Longshot shot and arrow to them with a rope attached, their way out. Once by one, they all slid down the rope, Katara separating herself from the others by going last, Li in front of her. Longshot pulled the arrow and rope away before the guards could notice it. Jet grinned at his companions, though it fell slightly as he saw Katara's glare, backed up by Li's quietly judging expression. _How long have those two known each other?_ Jet wondered again. There was a slight stirring in his gut which Jet refused to name. But he wondered what the exact nature of Katara and Li's relationship was. But they had food to distribute, and so they did.

They passed out the food, quiet as they could be. The refugees were happy, Jet noticed with a smile. People were grateful, and eager to have a decent meal. Many of them, Jet suspected, hadn't had a good meal in weeks. Jet didn't know how it would be like in Ba Sing Se. He had heard that all people lived like kings, at least from some people. He'd also heard that society was very strictly stratified; the highest echelons drowned in wealth, while the lowest would steal and beg for survival. He had not way of knowing which was true—he'd never been to Ba Sing Se. But the latter rumors didn't sit right with him. It wasn't how he had lived. And it wasn't fair that these refugees should be forced to flee their homes just to be kicked into the dirt by their own nation. But perhaps Jet could help them. Him and his group.

He hoped that that may include Li.

He watched Katara offering a smile to a little girl as she and Li gave some of the last of the food to a large refugee family. The little girl smiled shyly, though she looked almost intimidated as Li stood over her. It wasn't too surprising; a scar like that demanded attention, whether the bearer of the scar wanted it or not. But Li's face was gentle as he set a bowl of rice down for the family. Seeing this, the little girl smiled even larger. After a moment, Li even gave a small smile of his own, before the girl sat down to eat with her family. _He'd make a good Freedom Fighter_ , Jet thought. He glanced at Katara. _Best not to go there._ He furrowed his brows as the two of them walked closely together, Katara smiling as she said something quietly to Li. He didn't smile again, but he did seem almost amused. Though, his face fell as he noticed Jet approaching his uncle with more food.

"Mind if we join you?" Jet asked as Smellerbee and Longshot returned to his side.

"Yes," Katara and Li both said, both glowering.

But Li's uncle appeared to disagree. "More company is always welcome," he said, ginning broadly. He ignored Li's groan. Jet sat down, his friends doing the same. They took out the food. Jet was pleased when Li decided to sit down, though less so as Katara walked away rather than sit and eat with them. _Here I thought doing a good thing together might help us patch things over._ Li gave Jet an annoyed glare after he watched Katara walk off.

"So, Smellerbee," Mushi said after a few awkward minutes. "That's an unusual name for a young man." _Oh no_ , Jet thought.

"Maybe it's because I'm not a man ... I'm a girl!" she snapped. With that, she stood up and walked away.

Mushi appeared regretful of his mistake, though Jet knew he hadn't meant to upset her. "Oh, now I see. It's a beautiful name for a lovely girl!" Longshot shook his head, silent as ever. He stood up and went after Smellerbee. Jet just chewed his food for a moment. _Anyone else going to get up and leave?_

"From what I heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se. I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall." The last great bastion against the Fire Nation's conquest. It would be quite the sight, no matter what laid behind the walls.

"It is a magnificent sight," Mushi agreed.

"So you've been there before?" Jet asked, surprised. Why would Mushi leave Ba Sing Se?

"Once," Mushi answered, a slight melancholy coming over the old man. "When I was a…different man."

 _Oh_ , Jet understood. The old man had done something when he was younger. Jet wondered what exactly it was. Whatever it had been, it was clear that it was something the old man now saw to be shameful. _I understand that feeling_ , Jet thought, thinking back to his destruction of Gaipan. It hadn't been until many days after, when he had spotted a family with little children, displaced by his attack, that he had begun to question his own act. He knew what that was like. The only mercy in this situation was that the kids still had their parents. Jet still wasn't sure what to think about that.

"I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of," Jet told them, "but that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se. For a new beginning. A second chance." Provided that Katara didn't drop him into the bay. Jet gave Li a glance as he heard the scarred boy scoff.

"That's very noble of you," Mushi said, and Jet tried to turn his attention back to him "I believe people can change their lives if they want to. I believe in second chances." He gave a pointed look at his nephew.

Li put down his food with a glare. "And what was it you did?" Li asked Jet. His eyes, Jet noticed for the first time, were a goldish color. They looked almost on fire as he turned his glare on Jet. "Katara is…Katara is one of the most understanding people I know. If even she doesn't trust you, what did you do? Why does she hate you so much?"

Jet winced, picking at his food slightly. "I should've been honest with her," Jet started.

"Answer the question."

"Li," Mushi said, placing a placating hand on his nephew's wrist. Li turned away from Jet, looking to his uncle. Finally, Li relented. He stood up, and walked away from them. Jet grimaced. _I didn't actually want anyone else walking away._ "Would you like some tea?"

Jet let out a breath. "Sure…not like there's anything else to do now," he muttered. Somehow, he felt that the journey to Ba Sing Se was still a long way.

* * *

Suki had to talk to Sokka. She had decided that much after she laid down, unable to sleep after his peculiar behavior throughout the day. It was stifling and, frankly, worrisome. What did he think was going to happen to her? So it was that she waited until the others were asleep before getting up from her sleeping bag, and looking around for Sokka. He had removed himself from the rest of the group. Suki found him sitting by a ledge, gazing at the moon. Suki could only stare for a minute. This was different from how he had been during the day. Now, he only seemed melancholy. Suki somehow felt like she was intruding on something private. Still, she needed to talk to him, and she'd prefer to talk to him alone.

"It's a beautiful moon," she said as introduction. She came closer to him.

"Yeah, it really is." There it was again, Sokka seemed almost disconnected from the moment, lost in whatever thoughts he was having.

 _May as well get it over with._ "Look, I know you're just trying to help, but I can take care of myself." As nice as his company could be, Suki didn't want to be smothered by his misplaced overprotectiveness. _Here I was coming along in part to protect him._

"I know you can," Sokka assured her.

"Then why are you acting so overprotective?" she asked him. She was worried about him. From what she could remember, this behavior was not normal for him. And it wasn't a healthy way to interact with someone, either.

"It's so hard to lose someone you care about," Sokka suddenly said. Suki's face softened as understanding finally began to come over her. "Something happened at the North Pole and I couldn't protect someone. I don't want anything like that to ever happen again." What had happened at the North Pole? Was it Katara—or was it yet another person Sokka had lost? Yes, it seemed more likely that Sokka had lost someone else. It was increasingly apparent that Sokka had been through quite a lot since Suki had seen him last.

And what should she say in response? Sokka had, after all, made quite the confession to her. What could she say in solace? The only thing she could think to say was, "I lost someone I care about. He didn't die, he just went away. I only had a few days to get to know him, but he was smart and brave and funny…" She hoped this would cheer him up, if only by distracting him from his grief.

"Who is this guy? Is he taller than me?" Sokka asked, clearly jealous over the non-existent other man.

"No, he's about your height," Suki told him, enjoying the game, but also hoping he would catch on.

"Is he better-looking?" he asked.

"It _is_ you, stupid!" Suki said. For being so intelligent, Sokka really could be quite slow sometimes. Still Suki enjoyed the embarrassed relief that came over Sokka's face.

"Oh!" He blushed. Suki felt her own heartbeat quicken as she leaned forward. Sokka leaned in as well, and she closed her eyes. But moments later her lips were only met by the night's air. She opened her eyes to see Sokka looking away from her, eyes downcast and glum once more. "I can't."

Oh, she suddenly understood. The person he'd lost at the North Pole had been a girlfriend. There wasn't any room for jealousy. Suki could only feel sorry for his loss, and regretful of her own action. _Here I thought I'd make him feel better_ , she thought, _and I actually just reminded him of his loss._ "I'm sorry."

"No, you shouldn't be," Sokka said, and then he just walked away, leaving Suki alone beneath the moon's light. _Way to go_ , she thought to herself. She turned to look at the moon, as Sokka had been doing when she had arrived. The silver light was only partially full, but it was bright as ever as it shined down on them. Who was it, Suki wondered, that Sokka had lost? That was why he was so overprotective of her. Because he feared a repeat of whatever had happened in the north. _At least it isn't just because he doesn't think I can take care of myself._ He had a reason, even if his reason was unhealthy and based on unresolved grief. Suki sighed, shaking her head as she looked back to the moon for a long moment. The moon was one of the great spirits tied to the Water Tribes. Would you help him? She thought. Can you help me help him?

She thought she felt a breeze, or a gentle ocean's wave beneath her feet. Like the sound of a young woman's laughter, or an embrace. She almost thought, for a moment, that she saw a silvery woman standing watch over them. Suki blinked, and only the silver moon gazed down upon her. She turned, and went back to her sleeping bag.

* * *

Katara let out a breath as she gazed at the moon. She stood by the aril of the ferry, looking above. Yue. Katara wondered if her brother was doing alright. "Hey," Zuko's voice broke her from her thoughts. She turned around to see him standing there. He shifted awkwardly. "Can I stand here, too? And talk?"

She let out an amused breath. "We can stand and talk," she told him. He came up closer, beside her at the railing. "Is Jet still over there?"

"Yeah," he said. Katara frowned, and the two of them were silent for a minute. "I tried asking him what he did. He wouldn't say." Katara snorted.

"Because any sane person would avoid him if they knew," she told Zuko. Her brows drew together slightly. She spoke quieter. "You and your uncle in particular should avoid him. It's not safe around him. He may seem nice and all, but I'm telling you, he's crazy." She and Iroh had thought that going to Ba Sing Se would keep Zuko and Iroh safe. But not when Jet was around.

Zuko frowned. "What did he do?" Katara looked away for a moment. "You know a lot about my past," Zuko said, giving a glance around them, probably checking for eavesdroppers. "Do you trust me with yours?"

Katara let out a breath. "A few months ago, my brother and my friend met Jet and his "Freedom Fighters." They were attacking Fire Nation soldiers. At first, this seemed fine," she told Zuko, noticing the conflicted expression as the mention of attacks on his nation's soldiers. "Jet spun a story about how he and his friends had all lost people to the war…that part was probably true. And I fell in with it. I really thought he was a good guy." She closed her eyes as she thought of those few days. If anyone had told her then that she would hate Jet and consider Zuko a friend, she'd have laughed. "My brother wasn't fooled. He felt that there was something off about Jet. Something wrong. But I still believed in Jet. He lied to me, and I believed him."

Zuko frowned as he listened. "What did he do?" It was a quiet growl.

"He used me," Katara quietly snarled. She glanced in Jet's direction, though he wasn't in sight. "He told me that the Fire Nation was going to burn down the forest he and his friends were living in. Told me that if I pulled some water from these geysers to fill a reservoir, then they could use the water to protect their home…it was a lie. The reservoir led to a great dam, and they blew. It. Up. The flood destroyed a nearby village of Fire Nation colonists." She clenched her jaw, hardly noticing Zuko's alarmed look.

"He did what?!" Zuko turned to look in the direction of Jet. Katara saw him clenching his fists, almost walking over. Before he could take two steps, she grabbed his hand.

"It didn't work," she quickly assured him. "My brother found out before he could do it, and he warned the villagers. Nobody died that day—no thanks to Jet." She spat his name. "He lied to me, he manipulated me…if it weren't for my brother, I would have the blood of well over a hundred people on my hands. And despite what the Fire Nation has done, I know that not everyone deserves death. Many of those villagers were innocent children." She shook her head. "If Sokka hadn't saved them…"

"But he did," Zuko reminded her. Katara took a deep breath, meeting Zuko's gold eyes. Jet had no appreciation of nuance, she understood. Not everyone in the Fire Nation was evil. Not even everyone in the Fire Nation's royal family was evil.

"You can understand my concerns about him being here," she said, raising an eyebrow. The last thing Zuko and Iroh needed was Jet in their lives. She definitely wasn't about to let Jet hurt her friends for being Fire Nation. They weren't even helping the Fire Nation anymore.

Zuko nodded. "I'm not interested in spending any more time with him. Especially now."

Katara took a deep breath and let it out. "Why is it that I doubt getting away from him will be so easy?"

* * *

Toph was really starting to get sick of not having a clear view of what was happening. Her sense of vibrations had always been sight enough for her, but for the third time in as many weeks, she had no clear sense of what was going on. She had pulled them up as fast as she could, aware of her companions' screams. There was something in the water, apparently, but she couldn't feel any vibrations through the water. She scowled as she heard a large splash and a great shriek. _Oh, this can't be good._

"I think I just figured out why they call it the Serpent's Pass!" Sokka said, panic in his voice. "Suki, you know about giant sea monsters, make it go away!"

"Just because I live near the unagi doesn't mean I'm an expert!" Suki snapped, swatting Sokka away.

Sokka grabbed up Momo, holding the lemur up to the monster. _How big is it?_ Toph wondered. _Everyone seems kinda freaked out…_ "Oh great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering. Thank you." Toph figured it would be funny, except that everyone was still trembling at the sight of some great serpent. Toph didn't even know what it looked like, or how far it was, but the fact that everyone else was scared of it and she had no way of seeing it unnerved her.

"Hey!" Aang scolded him. "No one's getting eaten!" He used his staff to blast air in the direction of the serpent. "I'll distract it. Toph, can you create a bridge?" He didn't even wait for an answer before he took off."

Toph stepped forward, slamming her feet down. She knelt for a moment, trying to ignore the sounds to fighting between Aang and the serpent. She felt the ground far beneath the water. It was farther down, and almost muddled by the deep layer of water. Still, she found it. She took a deep breath, standing up, and assuming an earthbending stance. She slammed down her foot, raising the earth below them, forming lengthening the platform they were on. Block by block, she made a bridge for them to cross, going across it as she raised the platforms. The sounds of Aang's fight drew closer.

At the final stretch, the sound of the fight suddenly came much closer. As in, right beside them. Toph screamed as she felt the serpent collide with her bridge. She knew she wasn't the only one to do so. The serpent, she felt for one moment, was easily one of the largest creatures she had ever 'seen.' Way bigger than Appa even—just its head was bigger than Appa. It was like a snake almost. And, unfortunately, its collision with the bridge was hard enough to fracture the rocks, sending Toph and the others into the water.

She gasped as most of her body was submerged in the liquid. It wasn't like a bath. It was far, far too deep. And cold. And she didn't know what to do. She had never been in water deep enough to swim in. Not that she would know where to swim to—in the water, she didn't have the slightest sense of vibrations. All she could do was kick and flail, hoping to keep her head above the water.

"Help! I can't swim!" she cried out. Someone had to be able to help.

"I'm coming, Toph!" she heard Sokka shout.

"Help!" she repeated, unable to do anything else. She felt herself sinking below the surface, taking a large breath of air as she went under. But she wasn't below the water for long; in moments, she felt herself being pulled back above the surface. She tried to thank Sokka, only to be informed that it was actually Suki who had saved her. Of course, only acter she had kissed her on the cheek. But in another minute, she was back on solid ground, feeling the vibrations of everyone waiting for Aang to return, drops of water dripping off of all of them. Soon enough, Aang had rejoined them, hesitating as he saw all of them.

He approached Toph. "You were in the water, too?"

"You did say I should try swimming," she told him drily.

"Well, this isn't exactly what I meant," he said, rubbing his head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm here talking to you, aren't I? Suki pulled me out." Toph couldn't help but frown, though. She knew she was capable of holding her own…but for the past few weeks, she had been rendered defenseless more times than she had before in her life.

They took another minute to catch their breaths, then they were back on their way to Ba Sing Se.

* * *

Zuko stood by the railing of the ferry, alone.

They would be docking soon. They would have to show their passports, once again. And then they would be admitted into Ba Sing Se as refugees. Not tourists, as Iroh seemed to think. Refugees. From their own nation. Iroh wanted to build a new life in Ba Sing Se. Katara wanted…well, Zuko knew that she wanted to see them safe in Ba Sing Se, then he expected that she would leave.

He would miss her.

But, he thought, she may not want to leave while Jet was around. She seemed too perturbed by the threat he presented to them.

As usual, Zuko seemed to summon trouble by merely thinking about it. "You know, as soon as I saw your scar, I knew exactly who you were," he heard Jet's voice from behind him. Zuko's eyes widened. Was it possible that Jet had known who he was the whole time? But, then, would Jet have stood by for so long if he knew that Zuko and his uncle were firebenders? "You're an outcast, like me. And us outcasts have to stick together. We have to watch each other's backs. Because no one else will."

Zuko relaxed as he understood. Jet didn't really know who they were. He only thought he did. "I've realized lately that being on your own isn't always the best path," Zuko started, and he saw Jet's face turned hopeful. "But I have my uncle, and I have Katara. You and I have nothing to gain from each other." He saw Jet open his mouth to protest. "Katara told me what you did. How you used her, how you tried to destroy a town full of innocent people."

"They were Fire Nation!" Zuko frowned as he heard how Jet spat the name of his nation. "They do the same thing all the time!" Zuko cast his face down. Did they do the same? He had always been told that the war was just.

"You targeted innocent people," he told Jet.

"The Fire Nation isn't any different," Jet responded. "They destroyed my home, we were just a regular village full of people, but they burned us to the ground. I was the last one! And there are countless others, with the same story—don't you understand that?" Zuko scowled, thinking of Katara's home.

"I think maybe I'm starting to," he said. "But that doesn't change that fact that what you did lacked honor. What you did…" He turned to the side, observing the water in the bay, before he turned away. "It wasn't right for the Fire Nation to do that," he admitted. "But that didn't make it right for you to do the same thing." He met Jet's eyes, turning further away. "Thank you for the food. And for the lesson."

He left Jet by the side of the rail, returning to Iroh and Katara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'll probably make a good lot of changes when I revise it.


	21. Part 3 Chapter 5: Danger at the Gates

Aang sat outside the earth-tent that Toph had made for Ying. He could hear the woman screaming as she gave birth to her child. Also in the tent, Aang could vaguely hear Than, Suki, and Sokka conversing. _Poor Sokka_ , Aang couldn't help but think. He had nearly fainted as Suki had dragged him into the earth tent. _Katara would have reacted better._

He walked over to Toph, who was sitting silently as they waited. She played with a couple pebbles, moving them around and around. It almost reminded him of his own marble trick. He sat down beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked her. She had nearly drowned just earlier in the morning. He thought of his own close encounters in deep water. At the South Pole, then later during their journey north. It had been the Avatar State which had saved him on those occasions. _At least it was more useful than destructive those times._

"I'm fine," she told him, though her voice was unconvincing. "Just waiting for those dunderheads to be done so we can move on."

Aang paused as he tried to think of what to say to her. "Part of being a friend," Aang said, "Is sharing what's troubling you."

She snorted. "Yeah? When are you gonna talk about your problems, then, instead of moping around all the time?" Aang frowned. "I may not have a lot of experience with friendship, but I'm pretty sure the rules go both ways." She stopped talking for a moment, then shot the pebbles forward. "So, here's the deal, you tell me what your problem is, and I'll tell you about mine. No mushiness necessary."

Aang just stared blankly for a few moments, before looking down. "When I was in the desert," he finally said, "I lost control of my anger. I went into the Avatar State, and I could have seriously hurt someone. I was out of control. I never want to feel like that again."

"So, what, you're just going to try shutting your emotions off?" Toph asked. She folded her arms. "Sorry, Twinkletoes, I don't think that's how it works. You're just gonna have to learn to live with the Avatar State."

"What do you know?" Aang snapped. Then, he winced, looking down. "I'm sorry. I said before that I would try not to lash out against you. It's just…the Avatar State is something I can't control. It scares me. If trying to stop myself from caring is the only way I can stop myself from losing control again…"

"I don't believe that," Toph said. Aang looked at her, seeing a small frown on her lips as she spoke. "There have been dozens, hundreds of Avatars before you. They must have figured out how to control the Avatar State."

"But I don't know how," Aang told her. "There's no one to teach me about this stuff. Occasionally Roku speaks to me, but he only ever gives me the bare minimum of advice." He turned his face downwards.

"You know what I know?" Toph asked him, and he looked to her again. "I know that you tracked me down and bugged me until I agreed to be your earthbending teacher. And I know how you waited to fight Azula, despite the plan being to run away. And I know that you struggled to even move a rock on the first day I started teaching you. But you were always capable of moving that rock. You just had to get into the right mindset to do it." She cocked her head to the side slightly. "Maybe this thing with the Avatar State is the same. You can control the Avatar State, Aang. You just have to figure out the right mindset."

Aang frowned, thinking over what she said. Hope was almost frightening, after the last few months, knowing how grief and rage could spiral into the Avatar State. "I hope you're right," he told Toph. "I don't want to live in fear of myself."

She punched his shoulder lightly. "Good. You've been worrying everyone else the past few days."

"Sorry," he told her. He smiled for a moment, then his expression became more serious again. "So, what's on your mind?"

She scowled. "I've never had a problem 'seeing,'" she told him. "I've never been defenseless. But over the past few weeks…I guess I've had more actual problems than I ever had before." She curled up slightly, pulling her knees forward. "First, there was that girl who somehow blocked my earthbending. I was actually blind for a few minutes there, and I couldn't even move. If Appa hadn't rescued Sokka and I…then there was the desert. I could barely see out there, and even then, I could barely bend the sand. I was practically useless out there. I never thought that could happen."

"That's not true," Aang quickly said. He frowned sympathetically. This wasn't at all like the Toph he had come to know. But then, it had been a lousy stretch of weeks. It seemed that it had taken a toll on her. "You may not have been able to stop the sandbenders from stealing Appa, but you're the reason the rest of us are still alive." He smiled. "You know, I think keeping a giant library from being pulled underground definitely makes you the best earthbender in the world. Don't forget that."

Toph did smile at that, though it fell quickly. "I almost drowned just earlier today."

"Well, you were never taught to swim," Aang reminded her. "The same thing could happen to anyone." He paused, trying to think of something else to say. "You know, if it makes you feel any better, I could try to teach you how to swim."

Toph's face turned contemplative. "That's nice, but you realize that I wouldn't know where I'm swimming to, right? I can't feel vibrations through the water. For all I know, I'd be swimming further out into the water."

"I can teach you the basics," Aang amended. "So you can remain floating before I can come and get you out of the water."

Toph snorted, but she gave a slight nod. "I would feel better if I could keep my head above the water." She paused, turning to the earth tent. "Hey, I think they're done in there."

Aang stood up with Toph, watching as Suki came out. She waved them in, and the two twelve-year-olds entered the earth tent. Aang observed the occupants. Suki and Sokka both looked a bit frazzled, but content. Ying was smiling softly as she held her newborn, Than leaning over her shoulder, his own eyes soft as they looked down on his child. The baby was crying, loud enough to be heard, though it didn't sound like an upset sort of crying. Though, Aang's experience with human babies was somewhat limited.

"She sounds healthy," Toph remarked.

"It's so…squishy looking," was Sokka's remark. Aang began to smile as he observed the happy family. The baby had been born before they reached Ba Sing Se, but they were now at the precipice, the walls of Ba Sing Se being very close now.

"What should we name her?" Than asked.

"I want our daughter's name to be unique," Ying said. "I want it to mean something."

Aang didn't know about naming a baby. But he felt almost overwhelmed by emotion as he watched—in a good way, this time. "I've been going through a really hard time lately," he told them. He thought of all the troubles of the recent weeks. _Appa._ Of things before that. _Katara._ Of all the changes over the past few months. _My entire people._ "But you've made me…hopeful again."

Ying's eyes brightened. "I know what I want to name our baby now. Hope."

"That's a perfect name," Than agreed. "Hope."

* * *

Sokka smiled as Aang flew off in his glider. If they had any luck—and Sokka really hoped they hadn't jinxed themselves—then they would have Appa back really soon. Aang would be overjoyed to be reunited with him. And then, hopefully, they would soon be reunited with Katara. And, to top it all off, they would be able to plan their invasion with the help of the Earth King.

Yeah, Sokka was so excited to be at Ba Sing Se.

Suki came up to him, looking almost nervous. Sokka offered her a smile. _Man, I hope I didn't blow it yesterday._ Sokka really liked her. And the more time he spent with her, the more that feeling grew. But, with a bit of hindsight, he knew that his behavior was probably really off-putting. In fact, she had even confronted him about it. Plus, she had attempted to kiss him, only for him to turn away at the last moment.

"Sokka," she said, returning his smile. "I originally came along because I wanted to make sure that you got through the Serpent's Pass safely."

Sokka blinked. "Wait—you mean you came along to protect me?" Here he had been trying to protect her.

"That's certainly part of it," she said. She frowned slightly. "My warriors and I wanted to do good. But we've all come to realize that there was only so much that we could do at that ferry. It was time for us to leave, anyways. But…" She took a deep breath.

"What is it?" Sokka asked her.

"I was wondering if you guys wanted me to stay a little longer," Suki said slowly. Sokka's eyes widened. "It's just, you guys are already down a member, and I just can't help but worry."

"We're at Ba Sing Se," Sokka reminded her, though he didn't particularly want to argue for her leaving. "Our problems should be over."

Suki raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? How's that been working so far? From what I can tell, you guys manage to find trouble everywhere you go." She shrugged. "Until you guys find Katara, I thought I might just stay and help." She paused for a moment. "That is, if you want me. You can tell me to go."

Sokka embraced her, holding her tightly. He smiled as he felt her hands on his own back. Stepping back, he told her, "Hey, if you want to be stuck with me longer, I'm not gonna complain."

She tipped her head, smiling. "Just in case you manage to find trouble in Ba Sing Se. But I've told my warriors, if I don't return to them, then to come to Ba Sing Se within a month."

"By that time," Sokka told her, "Hopefully we'll have a plan to invade the Fire Nation. Maybe you guys will even want to help." He stared deep into her eyes, admiring the deep blue color. It was hard to tell underneath her makeup, but he almost thought her cheeks turned darker.

"Listen," Suki said. "I'm really sorry about last night. We were talking…and saying things…and I just got carried away and before I knew it…"

"It's fine," Sokka assured her. What should he do? He stared at her lips for a moment, considering kissing her. He even leaned in a little, before he gave her an awkward grin, rubbing his head. "I feel the same way."

She let out a relieved breath. "Well, maybe while we're in Ba Sing Se, we can…I don't know. Do something."

"We can do an activity together," Sokka blurted out. Suki laughed.

"Yes. An activity. Or two." The two of them chuckled. Sokka looked away for a moment, warmth flooding his cheeks. He glanced at her again. Yes, he would be more than happy to have her around for a while. And though he still wondered whether he should have just gone ahead and kissed her, he was happy to know that they still had time.

They all began walking towards the wall of Ba Sing Se. Finally devoid of conflict, they were making good time, though Ying needed help moving along. But, before they quite reached the wall, Aang swooped back down on his glider. Sokka furrowed his brows as he saw his young friend. _This can't be good_ , he thought. Aang looked anxious, and Appa was still nowhere to be seen.

"What happened now?" he asked.

"The Fire Nation," Aang responded. It was hardly an answer, but before they knew it, they were sprinting to the wall, where Toph and Aang created a stone lift, pushing them up to the top of the outer wall of Ba Sing Se.

Upon reaching the top, Sokka asked Aang, "Now what's so big that Appa has to wait?" Aang had been determined to get Appa back since the moment he knew he was missing. What could distract him from that when they were so close to where Appa was supposed to be?

"That," Aang said, indicating something below the wall. Sokka looked, his jaw dropping as he took in the sight.

It was, as far as Sokka could tell, a giant drill, burrowing its way into the outer wall of Ba Sing Se.

* * *

Mai lounged in the chair, twirling her knives as she waited for something, anything to happen. But minutes passed by, marked only by the grinding noises of the drill and the War Minister's rambling. He was proud of this plan of his, to break through the walls of Ba Sing Se. Mai, upon entering the vessel, had given a polite acknowledgment of the plan. In truth, the idea of using a giant drill to make a hole in the walls sounded more like a bad joke than an actual plan.

She only hoped it would fail in an interesting way.

And, maybe, that the idiotic war minister wouldn't be punished too badly by Azula. But, really, he was pushing it with this plan. Mai wondered if he realized that, or if he was too arrogant to realize how skeptical Azula actually was of this idea. Mai continued twirling her knives as War Minister Qin said, "Nothing can stop us."

Mai suspected that, throughout history, many people had said that before they were stopped. She didn't bother saying so, but that didn't stop Ty Lee.

"Hmmm, what about those muscle-y guys down there?" Ty Lee asked, looking through the telescope.

Qin whacked the telescope, startling Ty Lee, who shot him a glare. "Please. The drill's metal shell is impervious to any earthbending attack." _Why are we even here?_ Mai wondered. _It's not as though this man is interested in what we have to say. I wonder if he'll listen after he botches this attack._

Azula was clearly not amused by Qin's attitude. "Oh, I'm sure it is, War Minister Qin. But just to be on the safe side—Mai and Ty Lee, take the earthbenders out!"

Mai gave her knife one last twirl before she stood up. "Finally, something to do." She walked out, followed closely by Ty Lee. As they made their way down and out, she looked at Ty Lee. Her friend was wearing her pink clothes, as she still liked to do.

Ty Lee caught her looking, and offered her a smile. "At least this won't be boring anymore," she said. "And, hey, maybe we'll get to see the inside of Ba Sing Se! That'll be exciting, don't you think?"

"Not really," Mai said. "And that's only assuming that this stupid plan actually works." She took out a knife again. "I can't think of anything in Ba Sing Se to get excited over. It's just another ugly Earth Kingdom city."

Ty Lee was quiet for a minute. "When Ba Sing Se is taken, the war will basically be over."

"You've never lived in an occupied city, have you?" Mai asked, though she knew the answer. "Just because a place is taken or surrendered, doesn't actually mean that the fighting is over. It just means that it turns dirty, and underground."

"But that's an improvement over open fighting, isn't it?" Ty Lee asked. "There will be fewer people dying to hold the land than to take it to begin with."

Mai frowned. "But the targets change," she argued in her usual monotone. "Just the day before the Omashu resistance fighters abducted my brother, they tried to kill my family with a giant boulder. By brother was there, too, but they didn't care." She shot a glance at Ty Lee. She just shrugged. "Maybe it doesn't really matter how the fighting is done. But it won't end when the Fire Nation raises a flag over Ba Sing Se. Don't fool yourself."

They were quiet for a minute. "Have you written letters to your family?" Ty Lee asked.

"Have you?"

"No," Ty Lee admitted. "But that's not really new. What about you?"

"My parents don't care what I'm doing as long as I behave."

"But what about your brother?" Ty Lee asked. "I know you care about him."

Mai raised an eyebrow, as she glanced at Ty Lee. "Tom-Tom can't read," she pointed out. "He's a baby. There's no point in writing to him."

"Right…maybe you can visit him?"

"I'm sure Azula will be needing our help for a while longer," Mai said as they exited the drill. She looked out, catching sight of the attacking earthbenders. Before she ran out to stop them, she exchanged one last look with her friend. "You know what we want doesn't matter as long as that's the case."

* * *

Smellerbee stood in line with Jet and Longshot, a wave of exhaustion coming over her as she observed Katara, Li, and Mushi with them. Jet was very much an older brother to her, at least as much so as Longshot. She tried to look out for him, as he had done for her when she had lost her family to the Fire Nation. She had stood by his side through everything, even as he led them to attack a colony full of Fire Nation citizens. Most of them hadn't been soldiers, but families with little to do with the war. Their guilt for colonizing the Earth Kingdom was another thing, but, with a bit of hindsight, it was wrong to target them all.

Smellerbee knew that Jet's encounter with a family of survivors from their attack had rattled Jet more than he cared to admit.

So she had been happy to stand by him as he chose to lead them to Ba Sing Se. To go straight and live their lives as refugees within the great city's walls. Perhaps do a bit of good there, though not like they had ever done by Gaipan. After all, there were no Fire Nation soldiers to fight in Ba Sing Se. But, now, she found herself just what Jet was thinking.

They observed Katara and her new friends giving their passports to the woman at the desk. Upon getting on the ticket lady's nerves, Mushi began flirting with the old woman. Smellerbee refrained from snorting; this would not be a fond memory for his teenage companions. True to her thought, as the three began walking away, she could hear Li speaking.

"I'm going to forget I saw that," Li said as he snatched his ticket and passport back from his uncle. Smellerbee could see Katara mutter something to Li, perhaps some form of agreement.

"I think Li would make a good Freedom Fighter," Jet said, and the exhaustion grew in Smellerbee. "He's just trying to find his way in the world, like us."

"You don't know anything about him, Jet," Smellerbee pointed out. True, Li had been a decent teammate in their food heist on the ferry. But the fact remained that they didn't know him. They knew he was a friend of Katara's—and while that may be testimony to his character, it also supported Smellerbee's opinion that they should stay far away from him. Li may not want to spend more time with them if he knew what they had done.

But then, Katara was a whole other issue, and one that Smellerbee doubted was going to go away.

"I know he didn't get that scar from a waterbender," Jet retorted. _You'll get a scar from a waterbender if you aren't careful_ , Smellerbee couldn't help but think.

"Besides, I thought we were going straight now," she told him. She didn't know what he was thinking. This wasn't the middle of a forest. They were refugees in the Earth Kingdom capital. Smellerbee doubted the officials would appreciate Jet leading their group into fights. _Who are we gonna fight in Ba Sing Se, anyways?_

"We are," Jet said, "and the new Freedom Fighters could use a guy like Li. If he's good enough for Katara, he's good enough for us, don't you think, Longshot?" Longshot just gave Jet one of his signature looks. To an outsider, it would be a total non-answer. But to those who truly knew Longshot, they knew he was taking a middle road. _Ask Li to join if you feel it's necessary. But be cautious, and don't try to force him._ "I can respect that."

Smellerbee shook her head as they reached the ticket lady. She folded her arms as they handed over their passports. Upon being given their train tickets and beginning to walk away, she got in front of Jet, blocking his path slightly. "I'm not chipping ice off of you again," she told Jet. "Katara isn't accepting your apology, not from what I've seen so far. And you can't go to Li without going to her. She's not going to like you trying to recruit her friend."

Jet folded his arms. "Well, this isn't about her. She can't make Li's decisions for him."

"No," Smellerbee said. "But if they're together, then I don't know that he'll want to spend time with you any more than she does."

Jet's cheeks darkened slightly. "Together? Who told you they're together?"

Smellerbee clenched her jaw. "That's not even what I meant," she snapped. "And it doesn't matter whether they're friends or anything else. From what I've seen so far, they trust each other. And I don't either one of them are interested in extending that trust to you." She deflated slightly as she said it.

Jet's face fell. "I'm not talking about Gaipan," he said quietly. He let out a breath. "Li could be useful. And I kind of liked having him around…and I'd still like to make things right with Katara."

Smellerbee shook her head, but she got out of his way. They resumed walking. "I'm telling you Jet, I don't think there are any words for you to say that will make her forgive you. If you keep going to her, or to Li, I can't help but think it's going to get you burned."

* * *

Suki could only observe patiently as her friends and General Sung talked to the survivors of the attack on the giant drill. She frowned as one of the earthbenders described a girl hitting them—and taking their bending away? Suki startled as she heard the earth crack beneath her feet.

"That girl again?" Toph sounded angry. "We met her before." Toph was scowling.

"You don't have to fight her if you don't want to," Aang told her. "You can stay and fight…some other way."

"Oh, no, Twinkletoes," Toph said. "I'm not missing this rematch."

"We still need a plan, though," Sokka said. Everyone looked at him. After a few moments, he raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're the idea guy," Aang told him. Suki's lips twitched.

"Oh, so I'm the only one who can come up with a plan?"

"At least half the time," Aang said. He grinned, before he looked back out at the drill. How long would it take that thing to break through the wall? Suki hoped that they still had enough time.

"Sokka?" she asked. He looked at her. "Do you have a plan?"

He grimaced, squinting his eyes as he walked over to look at the drill. "A frontal attack won't work," he said. "A whole team of earthbenders just tried that and failed. The thing is made of metal, it's going to be largely impervious to any sort of outside, brute force." He blinked. "But the inside…" He smiled, turning back to them. "Anyone up for a trip into a giant drill? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that's the only way we can destroy this thing."

Suki nodded. "I'm in, Sokka."

"We'll take it down from the inside," Aang agreed. Toph frowned, saying nothing, but they all went down the wall to confront the Fire Nation together. Suki, seeing the boys running ahead, lingered a moment.

"Will you be coming?" she asked the younger girl.

She scowled. "That thing is all metal," she replied, projecting her voice to that the boys could hear. "I can't bend in there. I can help you guys get on the thing, but then I'll be staying out here to try and slow it down." Suki nodded.

She took a deep breath. _This_ , she thought, _was why we left Kyoshi Island._

* * *

Katara let out a frustrated groan as she saw Jet approaching them. She, Zuko, and Iroh were still waiting for their train to come. Here, she had almost hoped that they would be able to get on it before Jet showed up, get into their ring, and, with luck, never see Jet again. She nudged her friends.

"I told him I didn't want to join his group," Zuko muttered. "Won't he give it a rest?"

"No," Katara said as she stood up. She walked over to Jet, her hand on her hips as she scowled at him. "Can you knock it off? Li already told you he doesn't want anything to do with your gang. And I don't want anything to do with you."

Jet almost looked hurt for a moment before he raised his hands. "Okay," he said. "Fine, you want nothing to do with me. But maybe Li should get to make his own decision." He started trying to go around Katara, but she stepped to the side, blocking him from her friends once more.

Katara's nostrils flared as she glared at him. "Those two saved my life," she said. "There's no way I'm letting you hurt them!" She startled as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Iroh standing behind her. He offered her a smile, though his eyes were slightly reprimanding.

"Katara, could you do something for me? I'm afraid Li and I forgot our documents back at the ticket station. Could you go and get them from us?" Katara frowned, shooting Jet another look. She knew Iroh wanted them to resolve things peacefully. She just wasn't sure that would be possible with Jet around. But Iroh gave her shoulder a light squeeze. "Please?"

She let out a breath. "I'll go," she said, begrudgingly. She narrowed her eyes as she walked past Jet. "If you do anything while I'm gone, you'll regret it." She walked on, heart beating fast as she hoped that Zuko and Iroh didn't get themselves into more trouble.

* * *

Jet grimaced, raising an eyebrow as he watched Katara walk away. She was different than when he'd met her a few months back. She was angrier—though, that may have just been from having him around. Jet began to wonder if he would ever be back in her good graces again. She'd seemed sweet and trusting when he'd known her in the forest by Gaipan, but now she was all distrust and fury. Jet shook his head, before going back to sit near Mushi and Li. He offered them a smile, hoping that Li would be more willing to listen than Katara had been.

"So, you guys got plans once you're inside the city?" he asked.

"Get away from you," Li muttered, giving him a glare eerily reminiscent of the one Katara had given him. Jet gave an awkward smile under the other boy's irritated stare. What was Li's connection to Katara? She had said that Li and Mushi had saved her life.

She didn't exactly seem like the type to need saving, anymore.

Before anyone could say anything else, a man came buy, shouting out to sell his tea. "Get your hot tea here! Finest tea in Ba Sing Se!"

Mushi's eyes lit up, and he waved his hand to call the man over. "Ooh! Jasmine please." The tea seller came over and poured Mushi a cup of tea, before quickly walking off. Mushi quickly took a sip, before grimacing. "Blaugh! Ugh, coldest tea in Ba Sing Se is more like it! What a disgrace!" Li just frowned.

This was going nowhere, especially with these distractions. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" He motioned Li to follow him. After a moment, Li sighed, but he stood up and followed Jet to the side, where he talked to Katara a minute earlier. _Now we can talk, away from Katara, Mushi, and anyone else who might interrupt us. Best make it fast._ "You and I have a much better chance of making it in the city if we stick together. You want to join the Freedom Fighters?"

"I already told you," Li said, eyes narrowed, "I'm not interested in joining your gang. Believe me, you don't want me in it, anyways."

"I'm asking, aren't I?" Jet said, frowning. "I know you saved Katara's life." Li froze, eyes widening slightly. "And we made a great team looting that captain's food. Think of all the good we could do for these refugees."

Li's eye twitched, and he clenched a fist. "Katara has helped me more than I deserved," he told Jet. "And I trust her—which means that I do _not_ trust you." He shook his head, taking a step back. "I told you before, I'm not interested in spending any more time with you. And stay away from Katara." He turned, and walked back to his uncle.

"Have it your way," Jet said, defeated. But it was then, as he watched Li walk back to his uncle, that he saw what Mushi was holding. It was the same leaf-shaped cup of tea that he had been given a few minutes previously. _"Coldest tea in Ba Sing Se is more like it!"_ But now that cold cup of tea was steaming hot, little wisps of vapory heat visibly drifting up in the air. The man selling the tea was long gone; it was the same cup. There was nothing around with which Mushi could have heated the cup of tea.

Nothing but his own hands.

Jet's eyes widened.

_Mushi is a firebender._

And if Mushi was Fire Nation, then Li was, too. Jet watched as Li reached his uncle and then cast a look at Jet over his shoulder. Jet narrowed his eyes, meeting Li's for just a moment. _Enemy. Fire Nation. Firebender?_ Jet turned and began walking away. Had Li seen through him, Jet wondered? Did he know that Jet knew? Mushi and Li—if those were even their real names—were Fire Nation, freely entering Ba Sing Se. The capital of the Earth Kingdom. The last bastion of hope against the Fire Nation's conquest. At once, Jet felt his heartbeat quickening as he thought of the danger presented to the Earth Kingdom. What were those two planning?

It wouldn't matter.

Jet would stop them.

He saw Katara walking up, scowl on her face as she eyed him. She was returning to Mushi and Li. At once, Jet found himself floored. Did she know? Did she know she was travelling with Fire Nation spies? She couldn't, he thought. Her mother was killed by a firebender. She was friends with the Avatar.

"Katara," he said. "Your friends—"

"I don't want to hear another word, Jet!" She walked right past him.

"But, Katara! You're in danger! Katara!" She went right to Li and Mushi, waiting beside them for the train into Ba Sing Se. _Does she know?_ He wondered again. It just didn't seem possible.

But then, she had seemed eerily concerned with the possibility that he would hurt them. If she knew that they were Fire Nation…

Jet clenched his fists as he returned to Smellerbee and Longshot. Longshot only gave him a questioning look, while Smellerbee folded her arms. "We have a problem," he told them both.

"So Li doesn't want to join us, big deal," Smellerbee said.

Jet let out an incredulous laugh. _I actually tried to recruit a possible firebender into the Freedom Fighters._ Smellerbee and Longshot frowned at the sound, giving each other uncomfortable glances. "No," Jet told them. "We have a different problem, and this one is way worse."

* * *

Aang let out a breath as he sliced through the support beam one final time.

Their attack on the giant drill had started out well enough, Sokka, Suki, and himself entering the contraption, with Toph staying outside to slow the machine down. It had been easy to trick one of the engineers into coming out, and to steal the machine's design layout from him. Sokka had quickly come up with the idea of using waterbending to break through the support pillars.

"You know," Aang said, sweating as he finished cutting through the pillar. "This is actually harder than it looks like." Sokka, of course, wasn't a bender of any sort. So, perhaps it wasn't surprising that he didn't understand how draining bending could be.

Suki shook her head. "This isn't enough," she said. "We'll need to cut through more for this to work." But then the machine began to shake, a loud groan reverberating through its metal walls.

"Ha!" Sokka exclaimed. "Do you hear that? We took it down! We better get out of here fast!" Suki just raised an eyebrow, before the three began to run. But the moment of victory was quickly ended.

"Congratulations, crew," a voice was projected throughout the machine. "The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se. Start the countdown to victory!"

 _No!_ Aang shared a frantic look with his companions. Sokka ran back to the pillar, pushing against it stubbornly, as though pushing it just a little more would be enough to destroy the machine.

"Sokka, that isn't going to work," Suki said. "There has to be another way to destroy these pillars. Maybe we need to cut through more pillars? Or, I don't know, a particular pillar?" Sokka looked at the schematics again, then shook his head.

Aang's eyes brightened as he had an idea. "Maybe we don't need to cut all the way through. Toph has been teaching me that you shouldn't give one hundred percent of your energy into any one strike." He went over to Sokka. "Sokka, take a fighting stance. You've got to be quick and accurate. Hit a series of points and break your opponent's stance." He demonstrated, hitting Sokka several times. "And when he's reeling back, you deliver the final blow." He hit Sokka lightly on his head, mentally picturing the same attack on the machine. "His own weight becomes his downfall, literally." Sokka fell over.

Suki grinned. "So all you need to do is cut through them enough to weaken them…"

Aang nodded. "Then I'll go to the top of this thing and deliver the final blow."

Sokka stood. "And boom! It all comes crashing down!"

Aang could only hope that they wouldn't encounter any more complications. They had encountered more than enough of those recently.

* * *

Mai stood behind Azula and Ty Lee. Though War Minister Qin seemed to believe they were going to have an easy victory, the moments dragged on and on. Was it only Mai's imagination, or was the drill actually having more resistance than it had when it had started? Occasionally, Mai would hear a _clang_ from a boulder hitting the outside of the drill. Was that really the best that the military at Ba Sing Se could think of? If it were, Mai struggled to understand how the city could have withstood the Fire Nation for a hundred years. It had taken Azula's uncle, the greatest of the Fire Nation's generals in his prime, six hundred days of war to make headway.

Everyone knew he gave up, not lost.

There was another clang from a boulder hitting the drill. "Not to worry," Qin assured them, "This drill can withstand any blow."

At that moment, a voice came through on the speakers. "War Minister, an engineer was ambushed! His schematics were stolen!" Qin was visibly startled. Azula made no movement, but Mai knew she was analyzing the situation—and judging Qin for his failure.

A second voice came through the speaker. "War Minister, a brace on the starboard side has been cut clean through! It's sabotage, sir!"

Azula didn't even say anything to Qin—that would come later. "Let's go, ladies!" Mai and Ty Lee followed her out of the room, going through the halls. "The person who is sabotaging the drill was capable of sneaking aboard—most likely during the dust cloud that Ty Lee and Qin dismissed earlier." Mai noticed Ty Lee look down for a moment. "They have also been able to make a plan to sabotage this machine, and of cutting through metal."

"That's not easy," Mai said, tone neutral.

"No, it isn't," Azula agreed. "Especially not without good tools. I suspect that waterbending had been used to cut the brace. I expect that our saboteur is none other than the Avatar." She shot Mai and Ty Lee a smirk. "This is our chance to eliminate the threat of the Avatar. Be ready, and do not let him—or his friends—get away."

They reached the braces of the drill. True to Azula's expectations, the Avatar was there, using his waterbending to cut into the braces. Not all the way through, Mai noticed. But what was the point in cutting only partway through a brace? His friend, the Water Tribesman was also there. The little earthbender in green was not there, but there was an unfamiliar face. A girl, around Mai's age, in a ridiculous green dress, with an elaborate hair piece and a bunch of makeup.

"Good work, Team Avatar!" the Water Tribesman was saying. "Now Aang just needs to—" He noticed them just as Azula shot a blast of blue fire at them. "Duck!" He dodged the blast.

Azula ran out onto a brace, Mai and Ty Lee following closely behind. Azula sent another blast of blue fire towards the Avatar. "Whoa!" the Avatar exclaimed as he just barely avoided the fire.

"Wow, Azula, you were right!" Ty Lee said, her gray eyes sparkling. "It is the Avatar!" She began smiling as she observed the Water Tribesman. "And friends." _She can't be serious_ , Mai thought.

To Mai's disbelief, the Water Tribesman seemed caught off-guard, and offered Ty Lee a smile, waving back to her. "Hey…" The girl in the green dress gave him an indignant look and swatted his hand. "Sorry," Mai thought he muttered as the girl began dragging him off. Ty Lee attempted to leap towards the Avatar, probably hoping to chi-block him and make their work easy, but the Avatar airbent her away with ease. He raced after his friends, and Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee chased after them.

If nothing else, at least this gave them something to do besides sit around listening to Qin extoll the virtues of his giant drill. Mai suspected he would regret that, once Azula had the chance to speak to him again. The three girls reached an intersection of hallways, arriving just in time to see the Avatar break off from his friends. "Follow them!" Azula ordered. "The Avatar's mine!"

Mai and Ty Lee did as Azula told them, pursuing the Avatar's friends. Before long, they cornered them, but only in time to see them climbing into a hatch on the floor. Mai threw several daggers at them as quickly as she could, but they had already descended into the hatch. Mai and Ty Lee approached it, observing what laid beneath. It was like a river; a canal full of brown muck.

There was no way Mai was going in there.

"Ugh, disgusting!" was all she said, leaning away from the nasty canal.

But Ty Lee began entering the hatch. "C'mon! You heard Azula. We have to follow them!" _Why bother?_ Mai thought. _This plan is never going to work; we are not going to_ drill _our way into Ba Sing Se._ The Fire Nation would take Ba Sing Se. It was inevitable. But the fall of Ba Sing Se was not going to be achieved through the use of a _giant drill_.

What she said was, "She can shoot all the lightning she wants at me. I am not going in that wall sludge juice." Which was, basically, the truth. She looked at the sludge and shivered at the thought of touching that stuff. _No thank you. I'll take Azula's complaints after we lose._

Mai wondered if Ty Lee also saw the absurdity of the plan—if she had even bothered to question the plan when Azula played along with it. Either way, pleasing Azula was apparently more important that Ty Lee's personal comfort, so the girl in pink just shrugged, and leapt into the wall sludge. Mai shuddered again, and then closed the hatch.

* * *

Toph could feel it as Sokka and Suki left the giant drill, colliding with the ground within the giant, muddy liquid being expelled from the end of the machine. Where was Aang? The machine was still working, so it wasn't as though they had won. A new body came through the muddy exit, but it wasn't Aang. No, this one was female—the chi blocker! Toph scowled. After a moment, she stepped back, leaving her stone wedges to slow the drill for as long as they could hold out. If Suki and Sokka were fighting one of those Fire Nation Girls, Aang had to be busy with at least one of the other ones. Should she try to find him and help him? _No_ , she quickly dismissed. _He's still in the drill. My earthbending won't help. But I can help the others._ She smirked. _And I can get payback._

In a minute, she had made her way to the end of the drill, where she felt Suki and Sokka fighting against the Fire Nation girl. They fought well together, Toph couldn't help but note. In fact, Sokka seemed to almost reflect Suki's fighting style. He wasn't exactly the same, or as good, but Toph could 'see' him moving similarly, pulling a few of the same moves. _Weird_ , Toph thought. _Why would a Water Tribe boy fight like a Kyoshi Warrior?_ She dismissed it from her mind as she joined the fight, trapping the Fire Nation girl's right food in the ground. The girl gave a startled shout; she had already begun moving into another attack, and had fallen over as her foot was trapped.

"You guys need some help?" Toph asked as she approached. She felt Suki fold her arms for a moment.

"Well," Suki said, "It's not like we'll say no." But her tone held gratitude and relief.

Toph locked the Fire Nation girl's other foot. She smirked as she felt the girl looking up at her. "How's that feel?" she asked. "You're never chi-blocking me again, understand? I'm the best earthbender in the world, and don't you dare try that again!" She shifter her foot and punched out, pushing the girl into the drill's drain.

"That's it!" Sokka exclaimed, patting Toph's shoulder. "Toph, keep her and the rest of that slurry in the drain for as long as you can!"

"Not a problem," Toph said. She concentrated on the slurry, focusing on keeping it back. _A waterbender_ , she thought, _would be useful right now._ But Toph could do it. She would do it.

"It'll build up pressure," Suki said, putting together what Sokka wanted.

"Then when Aang delivers the final blow, it'll be ready to pop!" Sokka responded excitedly.

"Sokka, you're a genius!" Suki said. Toph could feel them staring at each other. _Ugh._

"Where's Aang?" Toph asked, trying to think of some distraction.

"He's…on the top of the drill, fighting Azula," Sokka said.

Toph felt the slurry slip slightly as she frowned. "Is he okay? Last time we fought her, it took all of us." _All of us plus friends._

"I can't see much from here," Suki said. "I think he's doing alright. Wait, who is this girl?"

"Remember the jerk with the ponytail who burned down your village a few months ago?" Sokka said. "It's his sister Aang's fighting."

"Oh…"

And then Toph felt it; the great tremor as the machine was dismantled, falling apart from within, the pressure culminating to blow apart the sewage system.

"Woohoo!" Sokka shouted in victory.

"Here it comes!" Toph used her earthbending to lift a large platform up for Sokka, Suki, and herself, as the remains of the slurry came pouring out of the drain. Below the platform, she felt the flood of slurry. Behind her, she felt Sokka and Suki embracing. She blew at the hair in front of her face. _I don't need this_ , she decided. She turned to them. "If you two are done staring into each other's eyes, we should go find Aang. We have a lot to do in Ba Sing Se, remember?" She could feel the two teenagers' hearts beating quickly, but they separated, and the three of them went to the top of the drill to find Aang, Toph's footsteps more cautious on the metal. Though, she almost thought that she could feel some of the vibrations through the metal.

* * *

"Last call for Ba Sing Se!" The voice rang out through the train station. Jet clenched his jaw as he heard it. He tried to maintain sight on Mushi, Li, and Katara, following them as closely as he could without arousing suspicion—if he hadn't already done so. _Why_ , he thought again, _was Katara with those two?_

Smellerbee and Longshot followed closely behind him; he could feel their distress radiating off of them. They hadn't said anything since he had told them what he had seen, but he knew they didn't believe him. "Jet, relax," Smellerbee finally said. "So the old guy had some hot tea. Big deal."

"He heated it himself!" Jet snapped. "Those guys are firebenders!" Jet eyed the trio as they boarded the train.

"You really think that Katara is travelling with firebenders," Smellerbee said, incredulity in her voice.

"I know what I saw," Jet said, sending her a glare. How could she just dismiss him like this? Didn't she trust him? Jet turned away from her as it occurred to him that perhaps she didn't. Though Smellerbee and Longshot had stayed with him after everyone else had left, perhaps, it now occurred to him, it hadn't been because they still believed in him. Perhaps they were only following him to be damage control…

He swallowed, throat aching suddenly.

"Jet," Smellerbee spoke again, voice gentle this time. Her tone didn't help as she probably hoped it would. "The past few days have been a bit crazy." _Is that an accusation? I'm not crazy._ "Katara has been a bit…hostile. I know you were really affected by whatever she said before she left you in the woods before." _Jet, you monster!_ "Are you sure you aren't just…I don't know, projecting your problems onto Li or something? I mean, I know you really did like Katara before, and now she seems really close to Li. Are you sure you aren't just going after him because of that?"

Jet whirled around to glare at her. "That has nothing to do with it!" he shouted. Smellerbee actually flinched as he said it, her eyes widening. She covered her hurt quickly, exchanging a quick look with Longshot. The archer said nothing, but he furrowed his brows as he observed Jet. A disapproving frown came over his face. Jet grimaced, looking around. People were starting to stare. He let out an irritated breath. "Come on," he said. "Let's get on the train."

He thought of Katara as the found seats. _I don't know why you're with those two, and I don't know what they're planning. But I will not allow it. This isn't like before._

* * *

"We lost," had been Mai's blunt assessment of what had happened.

Azula's stare had momentarily sharpened into an irritated glare, while Ty Lee had been busy trying to get the wall slurry off of herself. Mai was glad she hadn't followed Ty Lee down into the slurry pipeline. It wasn't worth it. Azula's glare lasted only a few moments before she redirected her anger towards War Minister Qin. After all, the mission was doomed to fail long before Mai decided not to swim in the slurry. Best to discipline the man responsible for the foolish plan than those who were powerless to stop it from failing.

It wasn't as though her attempt to stop the Avatar had succeeded, after all.

Mai mostly hung back as they rendezvoused with Qin and the other survivors of the attack. Ty Lee was mostly quiet at the time, though an expression of disgust slowly crept onto her face as she tried to get the slurry off of her skin. "It's starting to dry," she quietly complained to Mai.

"You should have just stayed with me," Mai said. She raised an eyebrow for a moment as she saw Ty Lee look almost embarrassed. "Azula knows there was nothing we could have done at that point. Or else, do you really think we'd be having this conversation?" Ty Lee flinched.

Mai and Ty Lee listened in the background as Azula chewed out Qin. Within minutes, the older man had beads of sweat on his brow, wrinkles exaggerated by his expression of thinly veiled terror. _He's lucky we have to flee_ , Mai thought, _or he would be getting far worse treatment._ As it was, they had little time to waste. With the drill plan failed, they had no choice but to flee, unless they wished to be taken captive by the Earth Kingdom. Being stuck in Omashu was bad enough—Mai had no interest whatsoever in becoming a prisoner of war, much less in the aftermath of what may have been the dumbest attack in Fire Nation history. They evacuated the survivors quickly, Azula's sharp face practicing neutrality the entire time. Mai shook her head slightly as they had to leave, waiting to be found by reinforcements.

By the time the sun was setting, they were far enough away to feel secure in speaking to each other.

Azula sent a glare at Qin as she approached Mai and Ty Lee. "That man is a relic," she said simply. "He's had his good days, but I see little use left of him to the Fire Nation. I intend to tell my father as much when I send Qin to report to him."

"I'm going to be washing slurry out of my hair for weeks," Ty Lee said, pouting as she ran her fingers through her hair.

Azula's gaze sharpened slightly before she relaxed. "I'm aware of what both of you did during the attack. I am also aware that there was nothing you could have done to change the outcome." Her gaze turned to Mai, who made not response. "Next time I give you an order, I expect you to follow it."

Mai's expression didn't change. "Next time, will we have a better plan? I thought we were supposed to be chasing your brother and uncle, anyways." The way things were going, the Earth Kingdom authorities would find Zuko and Iroh before Azula even laid eyes on them again. Mai couldn't help but wonder what Azula was playing at—she was more than capable of tracking down her brother and uncle.

"We have another target," Azula reminded her. "The Avatar." A self-assigned target, Mai recalled. To her knowledge, the Firelord had never tasked Azula with capturing the Avatar. She wondered what exactly was going through Azula's mind in assigning herself a hunt for the Avatar. But she said nothing, instead allowing Azula to speak. Azula clasped her hands behind her back, frowning slightly as she thought. "We were asked to help oversee Qin's attempt to break through the walls of Ba Sing Se. That didn't go anywhere. You are right, Mai—it is time for us to turn back to our own purposes. We know the Avatar is in, or around, Ba Sing Se. If we stay in the area, we may be able to find him again."

"But if he's in Ba Sing Se," Ty Lee said, tipping her head slightly, "then how are we going to find him? They wouldn't let us in."

"We'll find another way," Azula told them, a small smirk forming.

Mai said nothing, though she glanced behind them, towards the walls of Ba Sing Se. This wasn't over, she knew. Knowing Azula, she would find a way to get them into that city, if that was where their chase led them.

Mai wondered what was waiting for them behind those walls.

* * *

Katara smiled slightly as she got onto the train with Zuko and Iroh. At last, they were reaching Ba Sing Se! It was a great sight, and she couldn't help but be excited—they were in the capital of the Earth Kingdom. A year previously, she never would have dreamt that she would one day see Ba Sing Se. A few months previously, she never would have thought that she would see it with Zuko and Uncle Iroh. But they were there. And the two of them were finally safe. _Azula and the rest of the Fire Nation won't be able to get to them here. They're finally safe. And I can finally get back to Sokka and Aang!_

The three of them found their seats beside another family. A woman was holding her baby in her arms, smiling softly at her child. The baby must have been born very recently—maybe within the day or so. Katara had seen plenty enough newborns to recognize one. She offered her congratulations. Iroh also noticed the child.

"What a handsome baby," he said to the mother.

"Thank you," the mother said. Katara felt a slight lurch as the train began moving. She let out a relieved breath. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see Zuko. She blinked, her gaze flipping over to his hand on her shoulder, before turning back to him. He followed her stare, looking at his own hand before quickly retracting it, cheeks darkening slightly. Katara would have asked him what he was doing, but his expression turned stressed as he leaned over to speak to her quietly. "We may have a problem," he said quietly.

Her eyes widened. "Oh no…now what?" What could possibly have gone wrong as they reached Ba Sing Se? She turned to see Zuko eyeing all of the other passengers. Her stomach felt knotted. _If it's something they can't hear about…_

"Jet may've seen something he shouldn't have," Zuko whispered. Her jaw dropped, and she quickly gave him a baffled look.

"You didn't!?" she whisper-shouted.

Zuko gave her an indignant look. "It wasn't me," he muttered, looking past to, to give his uncle an exasperated look. He shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'll tell you more later. Just…Just know that he may be following us."

"What" Her heart felt like it had stopped for a moment.

"I thought I saw him earlier, trying to keep us in sight…he isn't going to let this go, is he?"

She shook her head. "No. Jet doesn't let things go." She looked down. How could this have happened? How did they manage to find trouble in Ba Sing Se? She thought of what Jet had done to Gaipan, what would have happened if not for Sokka. Now Jet would be after them. Even if he didn't kill them himself, he could still expose them. _Jet is crazy_ , she thought, _and now Zuko and Iroh are targets. They've reached Ba Sing Se and they still aren't safe._

"We'll be okay," Zuko said quietly, and she looked at him, meeting his eyes. "We not easy to kill."

She closed her jaw firmly, her own eyes narrowing slightly. "No. We aren't."

Jet was never going to hurt anyone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I expect I'll the revising the **** out of this particular chapter when I get to it later. I also apologize for how close some of this has been to canon--I know these parts can be a bit tedious. I swear I'm not just putting these parts in for nothing. And the stuff with Jet is going somewhere. And the parts with Mai. Still, I hope you guys got some enjoyment from it. As of next chapter, we are officially in Ba Sing Se! I'll admit, that's a part I've been looking forward to writing for a long time.  
> Anyways, thanks for reading. Hope it was fun.


	22. Part 3 Chapter 6: A Flower in the City of Secrets

Katara stuck by Iroh and Zuko's side as they once again handed over their documents, registering through customs. Katara couldn't help but observe every hall and room they went through, checking for any sign of Jet and his gang following. She hadn't seen any sign of him since they had boarded the train, but she wasn't willing to let her guard down. This was Jet, after all. He was crazy and obsessive. Even if she didn't see him, that didn't mean he wasn't just managing to stay out of sight, hidden as he prepared to attack her friends when they didn't expect it.

She'd been in Ba Sing Se for hours, and she still couldn't let her guard down.

She knew Zuko was thinking along the same lines. She noticed his eyes moving over a scene, taking in every face and possible threat. Though he tried not to stand in any obvious bending stance, she saw that he was prepared to assume a stance at any sign of trouble. In front of them, Iroh discussed lodging casually, figuring out where they were to stay. Their apartment was temporarily provided to them; they would have to work in order to keep it. Hopefully, they would be able to find work that they would be able to do.

Not too soon, they had the key to their apartment, and were free to leave. Katara couldn't help but release a sigh. She hoped that they would be able to lose Jet—if they hadn't already—in the streets of Ba Sing Se. Before they left the office, she couldn't help but glance back. Were Sokka and Aang here yet? She could ask the customs office—but then Zuko would know, if he were with her. She grimaced slightly, looking back to Zuko, who was waiting for her to come with him and his uncle. _I'll have to figure it out on my own time_ , she decided. _Best not to remind Zuko of his original mission. Not yet._

They stepped out into the Lower Ring.

It reminded Katara of other Earth Kingdom towns that Katara had been to. Except bigger, and more restricted. Zuko was sulking, a grim pout on his face as they followed Iroh through the ring. "Can we just go to the apartment already?" he complained as Iroh began surveying a shop's goods. He became interested in a potted flower.

"Zuko has a point," Katara said quietly, looking around again. Still no sign of Jet. Which still didn't mean he wasn't there, hidden. "There's something we need to talk about. In private."

Iroh turned to look at them, assessing their faces. His smile fell slightly as he saw the mixtures of grimness and worry. He took another look at the flowers, but then nodded. "We can shop later," he agreed. He smiled again. "After we look at our apartment, we'll be better able to know how much decoration we can put in. And how to match it!" Zuko groaned, grimacing as he shook his head. But the three of them left the shops and resumed their trek through the Lower Ring.

The main street was large and wide; carriages would sometimes come through. Those, Katara understood, came from the Upper Ring, where the rich and government officials lived. Katara frowned as she saw a few ill-dressed children playing with a ragged ball. This was a sort of stratification she hadn't seen before. She sighed, shaking her head. _Not everywhere is the Southern Water Tribe_ , she tried to remind herself. The Northern Water Tribe had been different from her own, having its own hierarchy which was far more rigid than what she was familiar with. But Ba Sing Se seemed to take it to whole new level. Indeed, the Middle and Upper Rings excluded people from the Lower Ring from entering as a general matter. She took a glance at Iroh and Zuko, trying to see if they were anywhere near as unnerved as she was. Iroh was as happy as ever, and Zuko had a grumpy scowl on his face; neither expression indicated any particular opinion on the setup of Ba Sing Se. _I wonder what it's like in the Fire Nation._

It hadn't taken too long, but it had felt like forever before they reached their apartment. Katara had seen worse. She had also seen better. Iroh led introductions as they went towards their own apartment. Finally, they entered, closing the door behind them. Katara let out a breath. Iroh was still smiling as he found a place to put the potted flowers. Zuko, in the meantime, was scowling as he checked all the doors and tried to cover all the windows. Katara saw him checking the windows; they were large, and faced a balcony on the other side. Finally, he let out his own frustrated breath, before turning to face Uncle Iroh. "We have a problem," he said, trying to keep his voice low. They didn't know how much sound would pass through the walls, or how sound would carry to the surrounding area. Katara glanced again at the window with the balcony on the other building.

Iroh raised an eyebrow before he sat. "What now?" he asked.

"Jet saw you," Zuko said, arms crossed. "When you heated your tea at the train station, he saw you do it." Katara raised her eyebrows. Heated his tea? She let out a groan.

Iroh's face fell. "I see," he said, rubbing his chin. "Are you certain?"

"I saw his face," Zuko told his uncle. "I think he did. And I'm pretty sure he's been following us since then." He looked to Katara. "I hoped that we lost him after getting off of the train…but I'm not sure. I thought I may have seen him for a moment in the Lower Ring."

"It could be a coincidence," Iroh said, motioning with his hand.

"No," Katara denied, stepping forward. "Jet is obsessive. He hates the Fire Nation, and everyone in it. Regardless of who they actually are." She frowned. "He once tried to destroy a town full of people from the Fire Nation. He didn't care about the innocent people there who would get hurt." She looked at her two friends. "Zuko's right. Jet saw you, and now he'll be after you. He won't be letting this go."

"Hm," Iroh acknowledged. "I should have been more careful. I apologize. I'm afraid we'll all have to be more careful now."

"What are we going to do?" Katara asked.

"We're going to do nothing," Iroh told her, and she shared a baffled glance with Zuko. "It is unfortunate that Jet saw something he shouldn't have, but he has no proof. He has nothing that can compromise our safety here—we must ensure that it stays that way." He looked at Zuko. "We will _not_ seek out a fight. We will live as Mushi and Li. We will not do anything that suggests that we are anything but another pair of Earth Kingdom refugees."

Katara shook her head. "That won't be enough," she told him, anxiety creeping into her voice. "Jet will never let this go."

"What do you suggest?" Iroh asked her, raising a patient eyebrow. His patience was rarely so frustrating. "Any action that we could take would only further endanger us. We can only wait, and hope that this resolves itself peacefully."

"It won't," she muttered, thinking of Jet's satisfied smirk as the dam by Gaipan had been blown up.

Iroh ignored her. "We should buy ourselves some decorations for our new home. And we'll need jobs, like anyone else in this city. I saw a sign asking for workers in a tea shop."

Zuko gave him an incredulous glare. "You're out of your mind, Uncle. After _this_ , you want to work in a tea shop?"

Iroh smiled. "I've always wanted to work at a tea shop," he told them cheerfully. "Don't worry. I won't be doing anything to arouse suspicion from now on." He motioned to them to follow as he went out the door.

Katara shared a look with Zuko as he stood closely beside her. "Do you have any other ideas?" she asked him quietly.

Zuko scowled for a moment before he let out a breath, shaking his head. "No. We just have to wait, and be careful."

They followed Iroh out of the apartment, into the streets of Ba Sing Se.

* * *

Iroh went directly to the tea shop he had seen earlier to offer his, Zuko's, and Katara's services. He left Katara and Zuko at the flower shop they had passed by earlier while he talked to the tea shop owner, Pao, about jobs. Katara and Zuko stayed close to each other; with Jet possibly following them, they were reluctant to separate for long. Zuko glanced down the street. He knew Uncle Iroh was more than capable of protecting himself. But Uncle Iroh could also have moments of foolishness, such as poisoning himself with tea, or exposing himself as a firebender by heating tea with his hands.

Zuko was half-inclined to suggest a ban on tea. Not that Iroh would listen if he did.

"Oh, this flower is beautiful," he heard Katara say. Zuko looked to the flower she was admiring.

The shop keeper stepped by. "You have a great taste in flowers," he told Katara, a large smile on his face. Zuko scowled. The statement may or may not have been true, but Zuko knew the man wanted to sell his flowers. But the man stayed by them and took a large sniff of the flower. "This is an Omashu Mountain Orchid. It's a pretty and fragrant flower. Not usually too rare—but with the fall of Omashu to the Fire Nation, it's become much more difficult to cultivate and transport. This is the last of the cultivar I purchased." It wasn't a bad looking flower, Zuko supposed. It was colorful—bright pink in the middle, fading to red, with a vibrant purple edge. Katara seemed quite taken with it. She smiled as she took a sniff of it. A few strands of her thick, dark hair fell over her shoulder as she leaned forward.

A moment later, Iroh called out to them, waving his hand with a large grin on his face as he approached the flower shop. Katara walked over to him. Zuko watched his uncle and his friend interact for a moment, letting out a small breath of relief. He turned to look at the flower again for a few long moments. It was a nice flower, and Katara seemed to like it. He thought of her amazement at the blooming cherry blossoms from weeks earlier. He picked up the flower pot, turning to the shop keeper. "How much for this?"

He paid for the flower before returning to Uncle Iroh and Katara's side. He couldn't help but smile slightly when he saw Katara's smile at the flower, nor did he miss the vaguely pleased look on Uncle Iroh's face before he returned to looking at an orange flower. After a few long minutes, Iroh grinned as he picked up the potted flower and took it to the shop owner. He exchanged a friendly greeting as he bought the potted flower. He returned to the teenagers' side. "I suppose this is enough for now," Iroh conceded. After all, they had limited funds. With that, the three of them began walking back to their apartment. Zuko couldn't help but glance at the orange flower that Iroh was carrying. "I just want our place to look nice, in case someone brings home a lady friend!" Iroh told him, nudging Zuko with his elbow.

 _What?_ Zuko could hardly believe the suggestion. Was Iroh serious? He couldn't be—yet it appeared that he was. Zuko scowled in response to Uncle Iroh's teasing suggestion. "This city is a prison," he said glumly. "I don't want to make a life here." How could such a thing even work? As far as anyone in Ba Sing Se knew, Zuko was Li, one of many refugees. He doubted that there was anyone in the city who would want to be anywhere near him if they knew who he really was. He'd already learned his lesson on that.

The only people in the city who knew him were Uncle Iroh and Katara.

"Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not," Iroh told him. Zuko frowned. Sometimes, his uncle's infinite words of wisdom could be really frustrating. "Now come on, I found us some new jobs, and we start this afternoon!" _A new job serving people tea_ , Zuko thought. _Is this really how I'm meant to spend my life?_

"Right now," Katara said quietly and Zuko could hear irritation seeping through her voice. "We just need to be sure you don't end up in an actual prison."

Zuko frowned as he looked at her. At some point, she had slipped further back from Zuko and Iroh. She looked oddly flustered, her cheeks a bit darker than usual. She had an odd frown on her face, and she wouldn't quite meet his eyes. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head, but Zuko wasn't sure that he was convinced. "I'm fine," she said. "I just want to get back to the apartment quickly." Zuko made no response, though he noticed her looking at him as they walked along. Something about it made him feel strangely nervous. The flowerpot felt both light and heavy in his hands.

The trio walked along.

* * *

Jet watched Katara, Li, and Mushi walk through the streets of Ba Sing Se, the two firebenders carrying pots of flowers.

"Look at them, firebenders living right under everyone's nose," he said to Smellerbee and Longshot. "How can Katara stand to be beside them?" He thought she knew what they were—or did she? Yet again, he was confused by Katara's presence. On one hand, she seemed to have been with them for long enough to trust them. Long enough that, surely, she must have known what they really were. Which would also explain why she was so defensive of them. On the other hand, the girl he'd known in the forest wouldn't walk beside two firebenders so casually. Katara wouldn't willingly defend a pair of firebenders.

"Jet," Smellerbee said, gentle, yet tired from making the same argument _again_. "You saw a man with a hot cup of tea. It doesn't prove he's a firebender." _I've already explained what I saw to you a dozen times_ , Jet thought. "And what if he is, are we supposed to attack them ? Katara doesn't seem to think they're a threat. I thought we were starting over here, changing our ways."

"We are," Jet insisted, ignoring the part about Katara. "When I get the evidence I need, I'll report them to the police and let them handle it." He turned to look at his friends. "Okay?" Neither looked convinced.

"Katara trusts them," Smellerbee pointed out again.

"They're _Fire Nation_."

"Okay. But we still don't know them, Jet. Maybe we're missing something. Maybe you should try talking again. Or just let it go."

"Katara's not thinking straight," Jet snapped. "She—she…I don't know! Maybe she just likes Li too much to think clearly!"

Longshot gave him an unimpressed look, while Smellerbee scowled. "You think Katara brought a pair of firebenders into the Earth Kingdom capital because she has a crush? You better not tell her that. I told you before, I'm not chipping ice off of you again."

Jet felt blood in his cheeks, and he turned away from his friends.

* * *

Somehow, it had felt like it had taken forever to reach Ba Sing Se. It was almost hard to believe that it had only been a few weeks ago that they had been momentarily reunited with Katara. Since then, they had formed a basic plan to attack the Fire Nation, lost Appa, wandered the desert, been reunited with Suki, and foiled another plan by the Fire Nation. And that was saying nothing of the hassle it had been to be allowed into the city; Toph and Suki were the only ones with any official documentation. Despite being the Avatar, Aang could only wait for hours after the fight on the drill as officials identified him, documented their entry into Ba Sing Se, and made living arrangements for him and his friends. Aang couldn't help but hope that their stay in Ba Sing Se would be short.

He glanced at Sokka and Suki, who were sitting closely together, looking awkwardly at the corn-sucking man sitting near them. To Aang's right sat Toph, who had been in a better mood since she had fought the chi-blocking girl who fought beside Azula. Still, Toph appeared annoyed as the train took them into the city. Aang looked outside the window, observing the large city. Even though he saw no apparent sign of Appa, he felt certain that Appa was in the city somehow. Somewhere. It was only a matter of finding him. But he somehow knew it wasn't going to be easy. _Is anything ever easy these days?_ The city was so big—even though Sokka didn't think it would be possible to hide a flying bison, a quick survey of the city showed that there was a lot of space to hide Appa.

The four of them and Momo got off of the train. "Back in the city. Great," Toph remarked, sarcasm dripping from her tongue.

"What's the problem?" Sokka asked, excitement coloring his voice. "It's amazing!" At least Sokka was happy, for once.

"It's just a bunch of walls and rules," Toph told him. "You wait, you'll get sick of it in a couple of days." Aang didn't quite disagree. Ba Sing Se was, from all he'd ever heard, the opposite of everything he had ever learned from the Air Nomads. The class structure and the rigid restrictions were not appealing to Aang, despite the interest in the Earth Kingdom capital. He wanted to find Appa, find Katara, give their information on the eclipse to the Earth King, and leave.

Aang looked out at the city and blew on his bison whistle, doubting that Appa would come. "I'm comin' for ya, buddy," he swore. He hoped that Appa had been okay, that nothing too bad had happened while they were separated.

"We'll find him, Aang," Sokka said, coming up from behind him.

"And Katara," Suki added, sharing a glance with Sokka. Aang couldn't help but smile a bit as he saw the two of them. He knew they had feelings for each other, and he was glad they had a chance to spend time together. It was good for Sokka to have someone to love, after what had happened with Yue. Hopefully, there would be no arranged marriages or insane Fire Nation admirals to get in the way this time.

As the monorail departed behind them, a woman came up to them. The woman had dark hair and was dressed in light green robes. She had a strange, stressed smile on her face that didn't look entirely natural to Aang. "Hello, my name is Joo Dee!" she said. "I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se. And you must be Sokka, Suki, and Toph! Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?"

"Yes," Sokka said, taking charge. "We have information about the Fire Nation army that we need to deliver to the Earth King, immediately." And two friends to find.

"Great! Let's begin our tour. And then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it!" Aang blinked. _Tour?!_

Sokka was clearly annoyed. "Ugh!" He walked closer to Joo Dee. "Maybe you missed what I said. We need to talk to the king about the War, it's important."

But Joo Dee was unperturbed. "You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here." Aang shared a baffled look with his friends, everyone having their own mixed expression of irritation and confusion. Surely, Joo Dee realized that nobody would be safe if the Fire Nation won the war? Didn't she?

Suki stepped forward, a confused frown on her face. "This really is serious," she insisted. "We need to talk to the Earth King."

"I'll put in a request for an audience," Joo Dee said. "But I'm afraid it will have to be processed and granted before you can meet with him." Aang relaxed for a moment before tensing again. _How long will that take?_ "Is there anything else I can help you with before we begin our tour?"

"Yeah," Aang said, crossing his arms. "Our friend, Sokka's sister, is supposed to be coming to Ba Sing Se. Do you know if she's here yet?"

"If you wait here for a few minutes, I will ask our officials to check the entry logs for your friend's arrival," she said. "Then, we can begin our tour." She walked off. Toph came up beside Aang, who looked to her.

"I have no interest in a tour," she told him. He nodded in agreement.

Nonetheless, they found themselves on a tour of Ba Sing Se.

"This is the Lower Ring," Joo Dee narrated. She had told them that it would take some time to find whether Katara had arrived yet.

Suki pulled a face as she looked out. "Why are there walls within the city?"

"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls!" Joo Dee dismissed in her same strange, excited voice. "There are the ones outside protecting us, and the ones inside, that help maintain order. This is where our newest arrivals live, as well as our craftsman and artisans, people that work with their hands. It's so quaint and lively!" They looked outside the carriage. There were a few men conversing, one of them holding a sword. They glared at the carriage as it went past them. "You do want to watch your step, though." It was perhaps the first time Joo Dee's tone had changed. _She almost reminds me of how I was when I faced Koh_ , Aang thought. _Except, instead of being unable to show any emotion, she can't show anything besides blind excitement and that unnatural smile._

Suki didn't appear to be any happier with the tour than Aang was. "So you have all the poor and the refugees stuck down here?" Her voice was indignant. She pointed her finger out of the window. "That guy was holding a sword out in broad daylight. Is the situation seriously bad enough here that people are turning to crime?" Joo Dee's wide smile flickered for a moment, but she said nothing.

"This is why I never came here before," Aang relayed to them. "I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live." And what he'd seen so far had done nothing to change his mind. If anything, it only reinforced his desire to find Appa and Katara, give their information to the Earth King, and get out. Besides, a big city wasn't the best place to practice earthbending anyways, and he had a deadline to master the elements. Sort of—the eclipse plan shook the schedule some. Was he still going to need to master firebending before facing Ozai?

Toph blew at her bangs, sitting grumpily. "This is just what cities are like," she told them. She waved her hand around at the window. "They all work like this, some are just more blatant than others."

Aang frowned, ignoring Joo Dee as she resumed her narration of their tour and as Sokka and Suki complained. He had been to many places, and few ever seemed this strict and stratified. But then, he had been an outsider to most of those places. He thought of Omashu, and of Bumi. _Bumi would hate this_ , he thought. "One day," he said to Toph, turning to her and leaning closer. "I should take you to Omashu. I know it's another city and you don't like them, but I think you'd like it there more than here. Plus, I can introduce you to my old friend, Bumi."

Toph was quiet for a moment. "He was the crazy king you mentioned before, right?" Aang nodded. "And you said he was the greatest earthbender you knew." She raised an eyebrow.

"Heh." He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, he has had a hundred years more to practice than you, so…but you're still the best."

She punched his shoulder. "I know," she said. She smiled. "He sounds like my kind of guy. Someday, maybe it'd be cool to meet him."

Aang grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "And we can ride the mail system. Oh, and I can introduce you to Flopsy…" He began describing Omashu to her as the two of them drowned out the tour.

* * *

Jet leaned against the outside walls of the tea shop. He stood, eying people as they walked past the shop, utterly oblivious to the pair of infiltrators inside. He kept his ears open, trying to see if he could hear anything useful. The old man had accidentally revealed himself as a firebender with tea before, after all. Inside the shop, Mushi, Li, and Katara had all come to Pao's Tea Shop, apparently in response to the advertisement for help. Everything they said as Pao spoke to them about hours and wages sounded innocent enough. Katara said that she wasn't sure how long she would be working there—she didn't know how long she would be in Ba Sing Se. Jet had frowned as he heard that. What was she doing in Ba Sing Se to begin with? And with a pair of firebenders? He wondered where her brother and Aang were for as moment before he refocused on the real problem. Jet turned around as he dared to peek through the window.

"Well, you certainly look like official tea servers," said Pao. Katara and her firebender friends were wearing aprons over their robes, though Mushi's apron didn't appear to fit over his girth. "How do you feel ?"

"Ridiculous," Li snapped. Jet didn't need to see his face to know that he was scowling. Jet frowned as he saw Katara lightly elbow him.

"I think this'll do," she said. Li had turned to look at her and the two shared a look. _What is with those two?_

"Uh, does this possibly come in a larger size?" Mushi asked, surrendering his battle to tie his apron.

"I have extra string in the back," Pao told them. "Have some tea while you wait!" He poured two cups of tea for them, but Katara held a hand up, politely declining the offer.

"Would it be okay if I start tomorrow?" she asked Pao. "I have a few important errands to run, and they may take up this afternoon." Jet frowned. What was she going to do?

Pao nodded, waving to the side. "By all means, do your errands," he agreed. "Just be sure to come in tomorrow." Katara thanked Pao, who then walked into the back of the shop, outside Jet's line of sight. Mushi took a sip of the tea, but he quickly held the cup further away from himself.

"Blech! This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!" Mushi exclaimed. Katara and Li looked at him, Katara shaking her head.

"Uncle, that's what _all_ tea is," Li told him. He was clearly unpleased with their situation. _Eager to get back to killing people openly?_

"How could a member of my own family say something so horrible?!" Mushi sounded almost offended. Katara laughed quietly, covering her mouth with her hand as she tried to hide it. Mushi remained focused on the tea. "We'll have to make some major changes around here."

"You'll have to start without me," Katara said as Mushi took the teapot and turned in the direction of Jet's window. Jet gasped quietly, quickly getting out of the window, though he couldn't bring himself to leave just yet. "I have to run those errands I mentioned. I'll be back at the apartment in a little while."

"Are you sure?" Li asked, sounding concerned. Jet scowled, once again wondering just what was going on with Katara and the teenage firebender. "I can go with you."

"No," Katara said. "You and Mushi go home. This should only take a little bit." Jet winced as he heard the door open, and he took a look around, hoping that she wouldn't come his way. A few moments passed, and Katara was nowhere to be seen; the teapot was emptied out the window. A few more moments passed, and Jet stood up, and walked away, hoping that nobody had noticed him.

He still had no convincing evidence. He would just have to continue observing them. Or, perhaps, he could try to talk to Katara. Just one last attempt.

* * *

Katara walked through the streets of Ba Sing Se, eyes open for any sign of trouble. Sign of Jet, mostly. It wasn't as though there was much else to worry about in Ba Sing Se, after all. Aside from a few odd muggers; there were a few alleyways that were more than a little suspect. But Katara could handle a mugger with a knife, and she knew Zuko and Uncle Iroh were more than capable as well. Jet was the only real threat within the city.

She took a deep breath, and then let it out, shaking her head slightly. For all that she teased Sokka for his pessimism and complaints about the universe, she had to admit that they had a ridiculous knack for attracting unexpected complications. Jet was one complication she could do without. She scowled as she turned onto another street. If Jet managed to somehow expose her friends in the heart of the Earth Kingdom capital, there would be nothing she could do to help them. Escaping would be their best hope, and that itself would be a longshot. She shivered slightly, looking up at the giant walls of Ba Sing Se. It occurred to her, for a moment, that walls worked both ways. _They keep invaders out, but they also keep us in._

She blinked furiously, trying to shake the notion. There were no enemies in Ba Sing Se besides Jet. She didn't need to worry about the walls.

It hadn't taken too long to walk from Pao's tea shop to the customs office of the Lower Ring, but it had felt like a long time. The result of a preoccupied mind, she figured. She stepped into the office. It was a large building, with many smaller offices and registration desks. She walked up to a man in long green robes, with a conical hat covering his long braided black hair, and asked him who she should go to in order to request information about new arrivals. He pointed her to a smaller office, where she found that there was only a very small line, in contrast to most other desks.

She waited for a while. It must have been less than an hour, she thought, though she didn't particularly keep track of time. It still felt like a long time. She felt an odd chill, and she couldn't help but look around the halls repeatedly, searching for something amiss. It _felt_ like something was wrong. Something was not as it should be. Someone was there when they shouldn't be. She blinked the first few times that the thought occurred to her. It was like the nights when the tribe would sit around the fire, sharing the scariest stories they could think of. And she was waiting for the shocking moment, the attack of a monster, the reveal that something was not as it should be. That someone in the room was not what they appeared to be. She gulped, taking another glance around the hall, hand going towards her water pouch.

It felt like she was being watched.

But Jet wasn't there. Nor was anyone else she had reason to worry about. Just the line of people, the cheery-looking woman at the desk, and the few men in green robes and hats. Katara blinked as one of the men caught her eye for a moment and then looked away from her. She let out a breath, shaking her head. _This problem with Jet is messing with my head_ , she thought. _I've spent too much time in the wild, waiting to get attacked._ But, still, something felt not-quite-right.

Finally, it was her turn at the desk. Katara stepped up, offering a friendly smile to the woman at the desk. The woman's smile was almost unnervingly wide. "Hello," the woman said in a clearly rehearsed tone. "I am Joo Dee. What may I help you with?"

Katara bit down her discomfort. "Hello, I'm Katara. I was hoping I could ask about some recent arrivals in the city? I'm expecting my brother and my friend to be coming to Ba Sing Se soon, if they haven't already gotten here."

"Of course. Can I get your friends' names?"

"Aang," Katara started out with. "He's the Avatar. My brother's name is Sokka, son of Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe." That had to be plenty of information, right? Aang was the Avatar. They would know if the Avatar was in the city. And there couldn't be many Water Tribesmen coming into Ba Sing Se, either. Katara tried to be patient as Joo Dee looked through a few logbooks. Katara's smile slipped; Joo Dee's remained the same. That had to hurt after a while, didn't it? "They'd be coming with a girl named Toph, and a flying bison."

But Joo Dee shook her head. "I'm sorry. We've had no such people enter Ba Sing Se within the past three months."

"Oh," Katara said, deflating slightly. She blinked. _I really thought they'd get here by the time I was here. Flying is faster than walking, after all. But then…maybe they got sidetracked. That happens a lot. Aang must've decided to take them on vacation or something along the way. It's exactly the sort of thing he'd do_ , she thought, recalling their early adventures at Kyoshi Island and Omashu. "I see. Well, thank you."

"If you like," Joo Dee offered, "I can mark you down to be notified when they arrive. I would only need your information and address."

Katara frowned. She stared at Joo Dee's unchanging face for a long moment, then glanced around. Was it her imagination, or were there more of those guys with the hats and green robes than there were earlier? She turned back to Joo Dee and forced a calm smile. "Thank you, but that won't be necessary." She'd just have to come back to check again in a few days. Aang and Sokka wouldn't be too long, she was sure. She turned around, walking out at what she hoped wasn't a suspicious speed. The men in robes were gone now, she noticed. Her heart beat quickly, and she shook her head, trying to figure out if she was only being paranoid.

From above, two men in green observed her leave.

* * *

It had been easy to track down where Mushi, Li, and Katara were staying. Jet remained far enough behind them so as not to attract their attention. Jet had snuck into the apartment through the window. He looked around, searching for any evidence, any piece of information which would prove that they were firebenders. To his disappointment, he found nothing of the sort. All there was in their apartment was tea, a change of clothes, and a few potted flowers. Nothing which would provide him any answers; nothing which would be enough to get them arrested.

Jet deflated slightly, unable to refrain from sulking a bit. _Now what?_ Smellerbee and Longshot still didn't want to help him. Jet felt stressed as he thought of his friends. They thought he had lost his mind—but he hadn't! He _knew_ what he had seen. He just had to prove it somehow. Glancing around the apartment again, his eyes settled on the teapot on the counter. The old man, Mushi, seemed really fond of tea. It had been what had exposed him to begin with. _Maybe I can recreate the situation somehow._ Jet frowned as he thought, then smirked as an idea came to him. He searched the cabinet and quickly found the spark rocks. He pocketed them, and then left the apartment as he had found it.

The balcony across the window would work perfectly for observing them, he figured. This time, he would have a perfect view of them firebending. Perhaps he could even convince his friends to come watch with him. But he couldn't wait for them to return for long. He knew their schedules, though; he knew when the firebenders would be returning home. With that, he walked the streets of the Lower Ring.

Maybe ten minutes had passed when he saw her. _Katara._ She was alone, exploring some of the shops along the way. Jet's eyes widened slightly, the spark rocks feeling a bit heavier than they had before. _What do I do?_ He had so many questions, but would she be willing to speak to him. He grimaced; the last few times he had attempted to talk to her hadn't gone very well. He clenched his jaw. He would try to talk to her. He needed answers, and he was sure she had them.

He hung out for a few minutes in an alleyway on the side of the street. Finally, Katara began to walk by. He called out her name. Seconds passed and Katara didn't come to the alleyway. Jet began to wonder if she had chosen to ignore him. But a few moments later she came into view, walking into the alleyway, and furious glare on her face.

"Jet," she snapped. "What do you want? I know you've been following us since the ferry."

"You don't know?" he asked incredulously. He narrowed his eyes. "Do you have any idea who those guys you're with are?"

"They're the men who saved my life," she said coldly. "And I will not let you hurt them."

"They're firebenders, Katara! Don't you know that?!" He eyed her, trying to gauge her reaction. Did she know?

Her face showed no reaction. Disbelief? Or did she already know? "You're crazy, Jet," she spat. "And you have no idea what you're talking about."

"Did you already know?" he asked, an eyebrow shooting up. "Katara, how can you let a pair of firebenders into Ba Sing Se?"

"There are no firebenders in Ba Sing Se," she said, but Jet thought her eyes darted to the side. _Worried someone will overhear?_

"How can you lie to me like this?!" Jet asked. "Just to protect your firebender boyfriend! I know what I saw! And you're just calling me crazy—you know me! You can't do this, you owe me the truth!" It was entirely the wrong thing to say.

The next thing Jet knew, Katara was right in front of him, and her palm had hit him across the face. He was still processing it as she shouted in face. "I _know_ you?! I knew you for like two days, Jet! And in that time, you lied to me, you used me in an attempt to murder an entire village! I don't owe you anything, much less my help in hurting the people I care about!"

Jet looked up at her, stepping back slightly as he took in her snarled words. Her eyes were like fire as she glared into him, her words likes arrows into his armor. "Katara—" he tried one last time.

"No, Jet. No more of this. I will not help you, I will not tell you anything. And don't you dare keep following my friends and I around." She stepped closer, leaning forward. "The next time I see you, it will be the last time. Understand?" Jet could only nod mutely. Katara glared for a moment longer, then she turned and left the alleyway. Jet let out a breath.

 _Getting slapped by Katara_ , he figured with a grimace, _must be a step down from being frozen._

* * *

Suki stared miserably outside the carriage. The boredom and frustration were only growing within the group as they were taken from one place to another during Joo Dee's tour. She shared another exasperated look with Sokka, who was growing more annoyed by the minute, as they entered another ring of the city. She frowned, thinking of Kyoshi Village; it was nothing like Ba Sing Se. Although Suki was happy to see more of the world, Ba Sing Se was quickly becoming her least favorite place in the Earth Kingdom.

Joo Dee's strange, oblivious narration was not helping.

"The Upper Ring is home to our most important citizens," Joo Dee narrated. "Your house is not too far from here!" At least they had their living situation handled. Though, Suki found she wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of spending more time within the city. _At least the refugees are safe,_ she reminded herself. It may have been the only good thing about Ba Sing Se. _There has to be something else. Maybe Sokka and I can find something to do while we're here._

"What's inside that wall?" Aang asked, pointing out the window, to yet another great wall. It looked more ornate than the other ones within the city.

"It must be the Upper-Upper Ring," Sokka said. "And I'm sure we'll be wasting more time touring it, when we should be seeing the king with the _vitally important information_ we have!" He glared at Joo Dee, who showed no reaction to Sokka's words or tone. Suki was beginning to wonder if the woman had injected puffer-eel venom into her face. She'd heard of people's faces getting stuck after doing that. How else could this woman's face stay exactly the same for so long?

"Inside is the Royal Palace," Joo Dee told them. "And I'm afraid that tours are not allowed for security reasons." The king would be in there, Suki understood, narrowing her eyes slightly. _If they won't take us to the Earth King, we may have to take ourselves there. What weaknesses are there in this wall?_ But something else caught her eye.

"Who are the men in the green robes?" she asked. They looked like some sort of security force, though Suki saw no weapons on them. Earthbenders then, probably. Something about them seemed vaguely familiar.

"Those men are agents of the Dai Li, the cultural authority of Ba Sing Se. They are the guardians of all our traditions!" Suki couldn't help but raise her eyebrows as she looked at Joo Dee, her face unimpressed. _Cultural authority? Guardians of traditions?_ She looked back out the window, feeling less comfortable than she had the minute before. _Who are those guys, really?_

"Can we see the king now?" Aang asked, his voice beginning to allow his annoyance into the open.

"Oh no," Joo Dee dismissed. "One doesn't just pop in on the Earth King!" _Watch me_ , Suki thought as she crossed her arms. Aang deflated, giving a bored nod of his head. They soon reached the homes of the Upper Ring. Before long, the carriage was stopping. "Here we are—your new home!" They all got out of the carriage. Suki gave an unimpressed look at the house. It was rather large and fancy, at least by her taste. But then, perhaps that was only in comparison to her real home. She missed the warm, friendly simplicity of Kyoshi Village. It was so open compared to Ba Sing Se, and less ornate. The ornateness of Upper Ba Sing Se almost felt like a distraction from the strangeness of the city.

Before they could even enter the house, a messenger came up to Joo Dee, giving her a scroll and whispering in her ear before running off again. "More good news! Your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed, and should be put through in about month. Much more quickly than usual!"

"A month?" Sokka exclaimed.

"Six to eight weeks, actually." Joo Dee closed her eyes as her smile somehow grew.

Suki clenched her jaw as she stood beside Sokka, shaking her head. "So, more like _two_ months?"

"As I said, much quicker than typical requests," Joo Dee said in a soothing tone. She sounded almost conciliatory as she turned back to Sokka. "Your inquiry about your sister has also been looked into. I'm afraid there is no record of your sister in the entry logs. She has not yet arrived in Ba Sing Se. But there is no need to worry about that—I will be sure to notify you when she has arrived." With that, she strode past them to the house, eagerly asking them to follow. Suki looked to Sokka, seeing his forehead creased with worry. She took his hand, smiling as he looked to her.

"I'm sure Katara is fine," she told him, squeezing his hand lightly. "I know you're worried about her. But from what I remember, she's strong, and she has a good head on her. And she found a waterbending master at the North Pole, right? So she has to be able to defend herself better now."

Sokka nodded. "You're right. And you have no idea how quickly she picked up waterbending—I sat in on one of her lessons. She beat every one of her classmates." He smiled.

Suki nodded vigorously. "See? You don't need to worry. It's probably just taking her a while because she's travelling by land. And she's with friends, right? So it's not like she's alone out there."

Contrary to Suki's expectation, Sokka's smile fell slightly, becoming forced as he winced. "Right…with friends." Suki frowned. Sokka relaxed as he saw her face. "Katara's probably fine. For all I know, she's enjoying not having to clean and sew my clothes all the time." He pulled her into the house.

Still, Suki couldn't help but wonder why Sokka had reacted in such a strange way.

* * *

Jet hid behind a clothesline, on the balcony across from Mushi, Li, and Katara's apartment. As he had thought earlier, the window gave him a perfect view in—he could even hear them well from this vantage point. In his hands, he held the spark rocks he had stolen from them. Mushi and Li were home; knowing what he did of the old firebender, he would probably want to make them tea before they went to sleep. Katara still wasn't home, Jet noticed. He couldn't help but be relieved. It had been strange, being outright threatened by her. But she seemed to mean it, as far as he could tell. And she had clearly had more waterbending practice since he had seen her by Gaipan. How the firebenders figured into that was anyone's guess.

"Would you like a pot of tea?" he heard Mushi ask.

"We've been working in a tea shop all day!" he heard Li complain. "I'm sick of tea!"

""Sick of tea?" That's like being sick of breathing!" It was almost hard to believe that this tea-obsessed old man was actually a firebending infiltrator. Jet observed him rummaging through the cupboard. "Have you seen the spark rocks to heat up the water?"

"They're not there," Jet whispered, anticipation building. He opened his fist to reveal the spark rocks. "You'll have to firebend, old man." But Jet didn't see Mushi do any firebending. Instead, the old man exited his apartment. Jet narrowed his eyes. "Where're you going?"

A few moments later, Mushi returned to his apartment, new spark rocks in his hand. "I borrowed our neighbors'. Such kind people." Jet deflated. Clever, he thought. They must know I'm onto them. He scowled, and then he left, eyes peeled for any sign of Katara.

* * *

Katara let out a sigh as she entered the apartment, carrying a tall, decorated panel. It was disappointing to know that Aang and Sokka hadn't gotten to Ba Sing Se yet. And it was infuriating for Jet to talk to her as though _she_ owed _him_ the truth. She hoped he would listen and leave them alone—but she doubted it. It was _Jet_ , after all. But it was a relief to be back to the apartment, with Iroh and Zuko. She could stop thinking of new things to worry about. The two of them looked to her when she entered. Iroh smiled, offering her a friendly wave. Zuko was laying down, an exhausted, irritated look on his face. He sat up as he saw her come in.

"Would you like some tea?" Iroh offered.

"I could use some," she said, nodding her head. She placed the panel in front of the window, unfolding it slightly. She saw Iroh raising a disappointed eyebrow.

"The shop keeper said it's good for keeping nosy neighbors at bay," she said with only a little irritation in her voice. _Nosy neighbor is way too kind a description for Jet._ She went to sit near Zuko as Iroh heated the pot. At least he appeared to be using normal fire this time. The three of them sat in silence for a minute.

"Are you…okay?" Zuko asked her. She turned to look at him. His brow was furrowed slightly.

"I'm fine," she told him. "Why?"

He frowned. "It just seems like there's something on your mind. And you were gone for a while. Is there something wrong?"

She paused. She could hardly name the reason for her newfound paranoia within the walls of Ba Sing Se. Something about the city had given her the creeps, especially in the halls of the customs office. But what reason did she have to worry? A few men in robes? A woman with a weird smile? There was Jet, but Zuko already knew about that. "It's nothing," she told him. Zuko scowled. "What about you? You seem upset about something."

Zuko stood up. "It's nothing," he told her, going into another room.

Katara stared after him for a moment, her face falling slightly. She sat alone with Iroh for a few minutes as he prepared the tea. "I hope your first day at work went well."

"Oh, it was excellent," Iroh said, a smile forming. "Granted, I've had to make some changes to how the tea is made. But Pao allowed me to make the changes, and they have come along smoothly. The guests at the tea shop have been kind and have enjoyed the tea." Katara smiled. It was clear that Iroh actually enjoyed working in the tea shop. One wouldn't think that a member of a royal family would be content to hide out and spend their lives working in a tea shop, but Iroh seemed excited at the prospect.

She doubted Zuko was so happy about it.

"I'm glad you're enjoying working there. And I'm sorry I missed our first day," she said.

Iroh shrugged before he began pouring the tea into cups. "Pao was quite understanding," he said. "I hope your day was pleasant. Were you able to do what you needed?"

Katara sighed as he handed her two cups of tea, sitting down with his own in front of her. "Sort of. I was hoping to find…something. But I'll just have to wait a little longer." _Best not to talk about Aang_ , she thought. _Not unless or until Zuko is ready._

Iroh frowned momentarily. "Hm. Well, I'm glad to have you with us for now. I'm sure Zuko is as well, even if he doesn't appear to be in an appreciative mood today." He glanced at the door.

Katara stood up, holding both cups of tea. "I'll talk to him," she said. "Thanks for the tea." She entered Zuko's room. He looked up from where he was sitting, eying her as she sat near him, offering him the untouched cup of tea.

"I told Uncle I don't want any tea," he said, but he accepted the cup. He looked at her again before sighing.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you what I was doing earlier," Katara said. "It just not something I want to share with you just yet." She paused. "I'll probably tell you at some point, just not right now, okay? Just know that it's not something you need to worry about." She couldn't tell him about Aang coming to Ba Sing Se yet.

Zuko looked at her for a long moment before he nodded. "I understand," he said. He took a sip of the tea. He spoke quieter. "Jet's been following us all day. I don't know if he's waiting to attack us or just to find proof of who we are." He shook his head. "I don't like this waiting."

"I know the feeling," she said, looking down. She let out a breath. "I saw him earlier today, too. He confronted me about you."

"What?" Zuko's voice rose a pitch as he shot a quick look to Katara. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, lips twitching slightly at his concern. "And I wouldn't tell him anything. Except that if I ever see him again, then it would be the last time."

Zuko's eyes widened a little. Then he smiled slightly. "He'd better listen, or he'll find out how dangerous you really can be. He'd regret it then."

"Like nothing he'd ever regretted before," she agreed, smirking slightly. The two chuckled slightly. Katara's mouth formed a grin as she looked at Zuko. It was nice, sitting near him, seeing him relax a bit. Katara felt that fluttering in her stomach, the same one she had felt earlier in the day, as they had walked home from the flower shop. Katara still wasn't sure what to call the feeling. "I know you're uncomfortable with this entire situation, but I hope you can be happy. And, aside from Jet, you're safe here."

Zuko frowned a bit. "This is different from anything I've ever known," he told her. He glanced at the walls of their apartment. "It's been a long time since I've been home. Since I lived like a prince. But this…it's so crowded." His voice displayed incredulity and distaste. "Everything is so small." He waved his hand around the room. "And nobody knows who I really am." He hung his head slightly.

"It's a pretty big change," she agreed. She looked down. It had to be hard, she figured, hiding your identity so thoroughly. "You know, I grew up at the South Pole, with my tribe. Things were small there, and everyone had to put in a lot of work just to survive."

Zuko blinked. "Right. I remember, I saw your village…you know, when I attacked it." Katara raised an eyebrow. Zuko scratched the back of his head a bit. "Uh, sorry about that. Anyways, I remember how small it was." He frowned a bit. "The North Pole was entirely different."

"Because they still have their waterbenders," Katara said. "In the arctic, we're pretty dependent on waterbenders to build and maintain our cities and livelihoods. But I'm the last waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe."

Zuko looked her up and down for a moment before turning away. "Do you know what happened to the other waterbenders?"

She looked over, shaking her head. "All we ever knew was that the Fire Nation came and took them away. We've never known what happened to them afterwards. Just that they were never seen again." She paused for a long moment. "Do you know what happened to them?"

Zuko shrugged. "I want to say they were imprisoned. But the specifics were only known by a select few. I'm sorry." He looked uncomfortable. Katara wondered if he was unnerved by the implications of what his nation had done, or just by his inability to provide her an answer. She couldn't help but hope that it meant something.

She let out a breath, shaking her head. "I appreciate it." She locked eyes with Zuko for a moment. She looked away, feeling suddenly conscious of how close she had sat next to him. "Someday we'll know."

"Right…"Zuko looked away, looking awkward. He took a sip of tea, frowning slightly as his eyes met Katara's again. He focused back to his tea cup.

The two of them sat alone, drinking tea, and attempting idle conversation. Katara smiled. Whatever happened next, she was sure they could handle it together.

In her own room sat the purple flower Zuko had bought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It's kinda slow, maybe. But the Zutara, as you can probably see, is beginning to heat up a bit. This chapter, with the next, was originally supposed to be one chapter. We'll see if I decide to merge them when I get to revisions.  
> That said, this chapter was very slow-coming to me. That may be in part because of the larger portion of original content. But I've got to admit that my brain is also being eaten by plot bunnies. That is, I keep getting distracted by other stories that I'm thinking of. And I really do apologize for that; it's part of the reason I tend to write so slowly. At this point, I keep thinking mostly of other A:TLA fics I want to write. And right now that's actually quite a bit. I really do want to finish this before I start any other projects, small or large. But this is a long fic, and it'll be while before it's done. So I guess I'm a bit conflicted, and it's been distracting me over the past week.  
> As I've said before, I sometimes go a long time without updating a fanfic. But I fully intend to finish this, so if I drop off the map with updating this at some point, just know that it's only temporary.
> 
> In regard to the plot bunnies, the things distracting me are these:  
> 1\. Zutara Week. I've never participated before. I thought it was earlier in the year, and then I realized it started later this month just a few days ago. Since then, I've been trying to decide if I want to try participating. I have nothing planned, and I am not so great at working off of prompts. Or short works, for that matter. Still, I'm kinda tempted to join in.  
> 2\. A Ty Lee fanfic that I've been wanting to write for actual years. I try to push it aside in favor of Merging Pathways, but the first few chapters are very clear and loud in my brain. It's basically an AU in which Ty Lee is an airbender and, upon meeting the GAang in Omashu, decides to join them in the name of learning from the only person able to train her.  
> 3\. Yet another fanfic which popped into my brain more recently, in which a change in Zuko and Azula's backstory leads them both to join the GAang during season 1. That one would probably also end up being Zutara.
> 
> Honestly, I'm sorry if I'm annoying you with these other fanfic ideas. And I hope I don't disappoint you guys with either a long hiatus on this fic or with subpar chapters. Point is, I hope you guys enjoy this, despite the fact that it was a more difficult chapter for me. And I hope to have the next chapter out by next weekend. If any of you guys have any insight regarding my distractions, feel free to weigh in. Nothing is decided thus far, either in regard to Zutara week or the other two AU fics.


	23. Part 3 Chapter 7: Secrets and Lies

Suki yawned as she got up from bed in the morning. Sleep hadn't come easily to her in Ba Sing Se. Sokka and Aang had told her of their search around the city for Appa. One wouldn't think that it would be easy to hide a ten-ton flying bison, but they had found no sign of Appa in the city. Aang was still certain that Appa was in the city, but where, they didn't know. More concerning, however, was Sokka's concerns that Joo Dee had been sabotaging their talks with people in the city.

"People kept focusing on her when we were talking to them," Sokka had complained to her the night before. "I swear I caught her shaking her head at someone, telling them not to tell us anything!"

When they were all home, they had caught the man in the house across the street watching them. When they had confronted him, his words had been all the more unnerving. _"Listen, you can't mention the War here. And whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li."_ Suki and Sokka had taken their younger friends back into the house then, and they didn't know what to do next. It was becoming increasingly clear that there was something wrong with Ba Sing Se. How could they not talk about the war? And what was with the Dai Li?

 _Cultural authority_ , Suki thought, rolling her eyes as she got dressed. _And I'm a purple platypus-bear._

She greeted her friends as she left her room, looking over them all. Toph looked mostly bored, while Aang was sitting dejectedly on the floor. "Sokka," she said with a smile. He returned with his own smile as he gave a little wave. Suki walked out of the front door, checking for mail. To her own surprise, they had actually received something. _Who would be sending us mail? We just got here._ She unfurled the scroll, reading the announcement of a birthday party for the king's pet bear. Suki paused, pulling a face as she reread the letter. Yes, she had read correctly. It was a birthday party for a bear. She blinked as she processed the information.

Then she grinned.

She went back inside, waving the letter victoriously. "Does anyone else feel like crashing a bear's birthday party?" Everyone's face showed some form of confusion. She offered the scroll to Sokka, who began reading it. "The Earth King is throwing a party for his pet bear," she explained. "It'll be in the palace. The king will be there—along with a few hundred other people. It's the perfect opportunity to sneak in and bypass this ridiculous waiting period."

"A party for a bear," Sokka said, raising his eyebrows as he finished reading the scroll. He raised his eyebrows.

"You mean, platypus bear?" Aang said. That was a good point, really.

"It just said bear," she responded, shaking her head.

"Maybe he actually meant his pet skunk bear," Sokka suggested, rereading the scroll.

"Or his armadillo bear," Toph said.

"Gopher bear?" Aang asked.

Suki shook her head. "We're getting off-topic," she said, then paused and shrugged. "It really just said bear…does that make it a bear-bear?"

"This place is _weird_ ," Toph said. Frankly, the animals were the least weird part of the city, at least in Suki's opinion. Her mind wandered back to the Dai Li.

"The point is that the palace is going to be full of people," she said. "People who aren't usually let into the palace are going to be coming in. I've been thinking that we may have to bypass the procedure of waiting to see the Earth King."

"You mean, break in?" Sokka asked, a slight smirk on his face.

"If that's what it takes," Suki said. "Which it seems like it does. The wall was the main problem, but we may be able to use the party as an excuse to get through. Once we're past the wall, I'm sure I can get us to the Earth King." She saw Sokka and Aang grin, but Toph only frowned.

"Won't work," Toph said, still laying down.

Suki folded her arms. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Well, no offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd will spot you a mile away. You've got no manners!" Toph began eating a pastry.

"What? I have manners!" Suki couldn't help but feel a bit indignant. It didn't help when Sokka began laughing; she swatted his arm.

Toph burped before she responded. "None of you get it. Upper class society has its own big tradition of manners. It's more than just 'please' and 'thank you.' I may've chosen to leave that society behind, but I learned all about those manners." Toph rolled her head slightly. "You never learned anything. And frankly, it's a little too late."

"Aha," Sokka exclaimed. "But you learned it! You could teach us!"

"Yeah," Aang agreed. "I'm mastering every element. How hard could manners be ?" With that, the twelve-year-old Avatar grabbed a curtain and draped in over his back like a great cloak. He spoke in an exaggerated manner, like a caricature of a nobleman. Not to be outdone, Sokka did the same, and within moments the two of them were both bowing excessively. Finally, the two boys hit each other's head as they bowed at the same time, both falling to the floor. Suki couldn't quite restrain a giggle as she saw Sokka's sheepish expression as he rubbed his head.

"Suki might be able to pull it off, but you two would be lucky to pass as busboys!" Toph said as she came up to Suki's side.

"But I feel so fancy!" Sokka protested.

"I think you should leave fancy to the ladies," Suki told him with a smile. She turned to Toph. "The party is tonight. We'd better get to work if we're going to pull this off."

Toph nodded. "I can teach you to act the part. And you can make sure we look the part."

* * *

Suki was a quick learner, Toph had to give her that. Hours after they had come up with the plan, Suki was able to give a fairly convincing impression of an upper-class young woman. Her lying skills weren't as great, but hopefully they would be enough to get them past the palace wall. Finally, the time came that they had to get ready to go to the party.

"You'll have to do most of this," Toph admitted as the two girls entered the room. "Color coordination isn't exactly my strong point." She motioned to her eyes. "Neither is makeup."

"That's alright," Suki said. Toph could feel her rummaging through the closet. "Sokka bought us a lot of clothes. He's…actually really good at that, isn't he?"

Toph snorted. "When I first met them, Sokka was obsessed over coordinating a trophy belt with a purse be bought." Suki laughed.

"You wouldn't believe how bad his first impression was," Suki told her as she handed her a robe. "I thought he was just a sexist idiot."

"Really?" Toph asked, taking the robe and going behind a screen. She began changing clothes. "I get the idiot part, but I never thought he was sexist. What'd he do?"

"He thought my warriors and I couldn't fight because we're girls." Toph felt Suki's hand going to her hip. She could practically hear the smirk on the other girl's lips. "But I showed him."

"That sounds fun," Toph said, grinning as she put on the new robe. "I'll bet he was real sorry after that."

"Oh, he was. But Sokka learned his lesson. And, after that, he asked me to train him."

Toph paused. "Oh, that explains it. When you two were fighting Azula's chi-blocker friend, there were a few times that your fighting styles felt the really similar. I guess that's why."

"Sokka can be a bit of an idiot sometimes, but he's actually really brilliant. I only taught him for a few days, but he's a really quick learner."

Toph came out from the screen, showing Suki her robe. "How does this look?" Toph was more than capable of dressing herself. Still, her parents had always insisted on having a servant help, and loose strings could be a dead giveaway at an event like this.

"Hm…there's a string over here that could be tighter—do you mind if I tighten it?" At Toph's nod, Suki quickly fixed it. "There." With that, Suki took her own robe and began changing while Toph waited. "So have you been to many events like this?"

Toph snorted. "Not exactly. See, my parents had me trained from childhood in high society manners, but they never actually let me attend anything. They never even let me off of our own land."

"What? Why?" Toph didn't answer, figuring that Suki was more than capable of figuring it out herself. "What, just because you're blind, your parents don't think you can go outside your home?"

"Yeah, that's it," Toph answered. "They took one look at my eyes and decided that I'm some fragile doll. They never listened to even tried to understand me." Toph frowned as she tried to push down her feelings. She thought again of the night that she had run away to join Aang. She didn't regret it.

"But you're an amazing earthbender," came Suki's incredulous response. "I may not have known you for long, but I've seen what you can do. Don't your parents know?"

"They didn't know until the night I joined Aang," she said, crossing her arms. "And you know what they did when they found out? They said they'd given me _too much freedom_! And said they'd have me guarded all the time. Well, I'm done being a prisoner in my own home. So I ran away." She couldn't help but think of her mother. Or even her father. It hadn't been her intention to hurt them—but they couldn't seem to understand that they were hurting her by keeping her locked up all the time.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Suki said, coming out from the screen.

"You look great," Toph said, a smirk on her face.

Suki laughed. "Why, thank you Toph." She came forward. "Okay, now I can take care of our hair and makeup." They were quiet for a little bit as Suki took care of their hair. Toph felt Suki's fingers dividing her hair evenly, braiding them into symmetry. She could usually do her own hair well enough—at least well enough for day to day activities. Like fighting. But a party at a palace required more attention than she could really give. Suki's hair was another matter, and Toph had to give her some advice on what to do with her short hair. _Maybe I'll try short hair one day_ , Toph considered. _Then again, that may be hard to maintain. I think I'll stick to putting it up._

"I hope you're good at makeup," Toph said after Suki finished their hair.

"Oh, I'm very good at makeup," Suki said, pulling out the different powders and stains that they had. "I suppose you don't know, but the Kyoshi Warrior's traditional uniforms actually include makeup all over our faces, in the same pattern that Avatar Kyoshi used to wear. I've had a lot of experience putting it on…trust me, our makeup will be prefect."

"So you put on makeup to go out and fight?" Toph remarked. She felt Suki begin to powder her face and stopped talking.

"Is there something wrong with makeup?"

"It's girly."

Suki laughed. "I'm still not seeing anything wrong. Listen, Toph, we're all free to be who we want to be. But I hope you know that it's okay to be both a girl and a warrior."

Toph felt a smile come to her lips. Yeah, she liked having Suki around.

Before long, the two of them were fully dressed and done up. They were ready to go crash the bear's birthday party. Toph and Suki both held fans in their hands as they exited the rom, entering the living area, where Sokka and Aang were playing a game. Toph could feel the boys stop their game, standing up quickly as they looked at them. Toph and Suki were calm for a moment before they both released a fit of giggles. This was different, Toph found, from all the other times she'd been dressed up like a doll.

"Suki," came Sokka's awed voice. "You look so…wow."

Before Suki could respond, Toph blocked her mouth with her fan. "Don't talk to the commoners, Suki. First rule of society." But she could barely restrain a smirk. Still, something was odd. Toph couldn't help but frown a bit as she noticed Aang. His heartbeat was going quicker than usual, and he hadn't said anything to him. Breaking the first rule, Toph turned her head to him. "What's with you, Twinkletoes?"

"What?" Aang sounded startled. "Oh, no, nothing's wrong here. Everything's fine." Toph raised an eyebrow at her friend's weird response. His heartbeat was still faster than usual, but there was nothing Toph could think of to worry about. So she just moved on, going with Suki as the older girl went to leave the house.

"We'll get in," Suki told the boys, "And then we'll find a way to let you guys in. Hopefully, by the end of the night we can have the Earth King on board with your invasion plan."

* * *

Jet stood outside Pao's tea shop, peering in to observe the firebenders. The two of them worked in the tea shop as though they were any other refugees, taking orders and serving tea to the guests. Mushi had his characteristic grin as he chatted merrily with the guests. Li worked with a dourer demeanor, stiffly taking orders and silently pouring tea. The most conversation he would make was a quick nod of his head. Beside them was Katara, her behavior a medium of Li and Mushi's attitudes. Jet couldn't help but notice how she and Li almost orbited around each other. When they weren't taking orders, they often stood to the side, near each other. She made comments to him occasionally, a teasing smile on her face. Li rarely responded, but he didn't seem to take offense, either.

Nothing he was seeing would prove Jet's case.

"Jet, we need to talk." The voice came from behind him.

"What ?" He startled for an instant before he recognized the voice as Smellerbee's. "Oh great, it's you guys." He turned to face her, mild surprise running through him. Smellerbee and Longshot had been quiet with him all day, and he noticed them exchanging quick, worried looks. _They think I'm crazy_ , he thought. They had declined to follow him to observe Mushi and Li. _But if they're here now…_ "Where have you been ? I could use some help with surveillance here!"

But his friends still looked unhappy and Jet's hopes sank. "We've been talking, and we think you're becoming obsessed with this. It's not healthy." Smellerbee's voice held what sounded like gentle concern, but Jet couldn't accept it. It was clear enough that she didn't believe him.

"Oh, really? You both think this?" Jet asked. He looked at both of his friends, his siblings in all but blood. But neither backed down, neither came to his defense. _They really think I've lost it_ , Jet realized. A sense of stressed despair began to boil in him. His last friends wouldn't stand by him. Had they always thought he was crazy? Or was it only just now that they were in Ba Sing Se? _What do I do? I know what I saw! Katara may not have told me the truth, but I know she knows!_

Longshot placed his hand on Smellerbee's shoulder. "We came here to make a fresh start. But you won't let this go. Even though there is no real proof!" Smellerbee told him.

Something in Jet snapped. "Well, maybe if you'd help me!" After everything they'd been through together, how could they refuse to even _consider_ that he was right?

But Smellerbee still was not swayed. "Jet, you gotta stop this. It's only a matter of time before you get yourself into serious trouble."

It was too much. He couldn't let those firebenders infiltrate the city, and he couldn't just sit back and let his friends act as though he's crazy. "Maybe you've forgotten why we need to start over," he snapped. _The Fire Nation. All because of the Fire Nation._ Smellerbee and Longshot both looked down, looking vaguely guilty. "Maybe you've forgotten about how the Fire Nation left us all homeless ! How they wiped out all the people we loved." Involuntarily, he recalled his village being burnt down. _Never again._ "If you don't want to help me, I'll get the evidence on my own." With that, he turned around, walking right into the tea shop. Firebenders and Katara's threat be damned, he _would_ expose them for what they were.

* * *

Suki and Toph waited together in the long line of partygoers. All of the people waiting were clearly high society people, and Suki did her best not to arouse suspicion. At the front of the line, officials were checking people's invitations before letting them in. It had been the one major flaw in the plan—they had no invitation. The scroll they'd been sent was only a notification of the party, not an invitation to it. Toph had been unbothered, figuring that her identification as a member of the Beifong family would be enough to bypass the need for an invitation.

Finally, they reached the front of the line, and the guard held out his hand. "Invitation please."

"I think this will do," Toph said, holding up her document with the official seal of the Beifong family.

But the guard was not impressed. "No entry without an invitation. Step out of line, please."

"Look, the Pangs and the Yum Soon Hans are waiting in there for us!" Toph argued with all the entitlement of a noble twelve-year-old. She had Suki convinced. "I'm going to have to tell them who didn't let me in."

"Step out of line please," the guard repeated. _At least he's dedicated to his job_ , Suki thought as she and Toph got out of the line. _Too bad he's making it harder for us to save the world in the process._ She looked around, a small frown on her face. It wasn't going to be possible to sneak past the guard; it was far too open, and they were too many people to see. A carriage arrived at the gate. Out of the carriage came an official-looking man, wearing long, dark green robes. All of his hair was pulled back into a long braid. Beside him came two of the Dai Li. Suki frowned slightly as an idea came to her. _It may be the only way we can get in_ , she thought. _Though I don't like the idea of drawing the Dai Li's attention to us._

But they needed to speak to the king, and they were out of options.

She walked up to the man, Toph walking beside her. "Excuse me, Sir? I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm afraid my sister lost our invitations. Our parents are already inside, and they must be worried sick about us. Do you think you could help us?" Suki's heartbeat quickened as she spoke and waited for a response. _"And whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li."_

But the man just smiled, bowing his head politely. "I am honored, please come with me." Suki restrained a relieved sigh as she and Toph followed the man. The guard who had refused them previously bowed. When his back was turned, Toph stuck her tongue out at the man. Suki grinned, shaking her head slightly. _Manners._

Before they knew it, they were in the palace. The man had escorted them inside. Helpful for avoiding problems, but it also made it difficult for Suki to let Sokka and Aang inside. The three of them entered into the main hall, where festivities were being held. There was a large crowd of people, talking and eating. Servers made rounds with food and drinks. There was a huge table; at the end of the table was the king's bear, gorging on plates of food at a time.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" the man who had helped them into the place said. He turned to face them. "By the way, I'm Long Feng. I'm a cultural minister to the king." Suki felt a slight chill. _Cultural authorities._

But she just smiled politely. "I'm Kyeri, and this is Suki." She hoped that was convincing.

"Now where are your parents? I'd love to meet them," Long Feng said.

Suki felt her stomach plummet, but she quickly glanced around the room. "I'm sorry, but I can't see them anywhere. If it's alright, my sister and I should really look for them. Thanks for your help." She and Toph began walking away, trying to slip from the man. But the next thing Suki knew, they were in front of him again. He leered down at them, and Suki _knew_ he was onto them.

"Don't worry," Long Fend said, and Suki was sure she wasn't imagining the sinister layer in his tone. "As your escort it would be dishonorable to abandon you ladies without finding your parents first. We'll keep looking." With that, he began leading them around, searching for their nonexistent parents. Suki tried to stamp down the growing anxiety as she followed Long Feng around, trying to keep up the rouse for as long as she could. Provided that he hadn't somehow figured them out already—but if he had, why play along? _"And whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li."_

She hoped the boys were having an easier time. She wasn't sure that she or Toph would be able to reach them any time soon.

* * *

"This is the best tea in the city!" a customer said to Iroh.

"The secret ingredient is love," Iroh told the man. Katara stifled a laugh as Zuko made an expression of disgust. Iroh came over to them. It was nearing the end of Katara's first day as a tea server. It wasn't the worst job Katara had ever done. Still, there had been a few customers at the shop who had been exceptionally picky or indecisive with their tea orders. Zuko had come over one of those times, encouraging them to get over it. Iroh, at that point, had pulled them to the side and asked them not to glower at customers.

Overall, things were going smoothly.

"I think you're due for a raise," Pao said to Iroh. Katara smiled; Iroh truly appeared to be in his element. He'd quickly taken charge of the tea-making. That alone was quickly garnering attention. Iroh's friendly nature only helped.

Naturally, things would go wrong.

The door burst open. "I'm tired of waiting!" Jet shouted as he marched in, a glare easily apparent on his face. Katara felt her heartbeat speeding up. She wasn't overly surprised to see Jet again. Threat aside, he was still Jet, and Jet was nothing if not one-track-minded about fighting the Fire Nation. Still, she hadn't quite thought he would openly confront them in the middle of work. _He really wants to do this_ here _?_ _Now?_ "These two men are firebenders!" Jet whipped out his blades.

Katara glared right back at Jet, all but tossing down the tray she was holding as she stepped in front of Zuko and Iroh. Beside her, she distantly noticed them exchanging a look as they figured out how to handle this. "Jet," she half-shouted. "I've told you like a dozen times, leave us alone!" She wasn't quite sure what to do. She'd threatened him before—but she doubted that would work too well in a crowded public space.

"You know this boy?" one of the guards asked her.

She froze only momentarily as she tried to think of something, something to support her friends and herself from Jet. "He's—he's my ex-boyfriend!" she blurted out, grimacing as she said it. But at least a story quickly formed in her mind. "Ever since I got with Li, he's been going crazy, always following us around and—"

"That's a lie!" Jet shouted, pointing at her with one of his hooked blades. For a moment, he looked genuinely hurt. Katara noticed Zuko walking up to stand beside her. "I know they're firebenders, I saw the old man heating his tea!"

It wasn't a convincing argument, to Katara's relief. Thankfully, the guards at the table were in agreement. "He works in a _tea shop_."

"He's a firebender! I'm _telling_ you!" Jet fired back.

"Drop your swords, boy," one of the guards ordered, standing up with his fellow guard. "Nice and easy."

Jet ignored him. "You'll have to defend yourself," he said to Zuko, who had stepped forward, in front of Katara. "Then everyone will know. Go ahead, show them what you can do."

Jet started coming towards them. The guards made to get between them, but Zuko quickly grabbed one of the guards' dual blades, drawing them in challenge to Jet. "You want a show? I'll give you a show!"

With that, the two boys began to fight in the middle of the tea shop. Katara's eyes widened in baffled horror for a moment before she tried to push the remaining customers to the side. Zuko had quickly knocked a table in front of him. It was no deterrence to Jet, and the boys were soon going toe-to-toe with their dual blades. Katara whipped a few pots full of tea into Jet's face, stunning him for a moment. Zuko kicked him back, but Jet was attacking again in moments. Katara glared at the boy, trying to find enough water to hit Jet hard, but Iroh's hand came around her wrist, pulling her to face him.

Iroh's eyes were wide, eyebrows drawn in clear worry. But he shook his head. "Li can handle himself," he said, though he cast another anxious look at his nephew before returning his focus to Katara. "We can't draw more attention to ourselves by making this worse." Katara scowled, but she stayed back, watching Zuko and Jet fight. As Katara had seen before, Zuko was brilliant with the dual swords, fending Jet's attacks off. Still, he was pushed back, forced out the door of Pao's Tea House. Jet followed after him, and Katara felt a rush of dread as she ran out after them.

The boys' blades were in a deadlock. "You must be getting tired of using those swords," she heard Jet say to Zuko. "Why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?" _Oh please don't_ , Katara thought, thinking of the Earth Kingdom village. _You're smarter than that, Zuko._ To her relief, Zuko ignored the jab, continuing to fight with his swords.

"Please, son, you're confused!" Iroh pleaded loudly. Katara had hardly noticed him coming out from the shop, she was so focused on Zuko's fight. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"He knows what he's doing!" Katara snapped. She moved forward. "Jet, do you really think you're going to get away with attacking us in public?! I won't let you!"

But he ignored her in favor of continuing his furious attack on Zuko. He linked his blades together, swinging them towards Zuko. Zuko took steps back as he avoided Jet's blades.

"Bet you wish he'd help you out with a little fire blast right now," she heard Jet say. She felt Iroh's hand come over her shoulder, silently discouraging her from joining in the fight. She wanted to. Oh, she wanted to.

But Zuko held his own, and neither of the firebenders were provoked by Jet's taunts. As Jet swung his blades towards Zuko's feet, Zuko stabbed one of his own swords into the ground, pinning one of Jet's blades down beside his own. "You're the one who needs help," Zuko told his attacker.

They continued fighting, now with only one blade each. They swiped and swung, moving through the patch of the street, Zuko's blade coming perilously close to Jet, who only barely dodged. Finally, the two of them had fought their way over to a well. Katara's eyes widened only slightly as she saw the well. Jet jumped backwards onto the well.

"You see that ?!" Jet cried out to the growing crowd. "The Fire Nation is trying to silence me! It'll never happen." His eyes were alight with fury, with a ceaseless pursuit of the Fire Nation, utterly certain in his discovery of Zuko and Iroh. He wouldn't stop, ever, and he was prepared to fight Zuko for as long as it took to expose him—or worse.

Jet never saw the explosion of water from the well coming.

In moments he was blasted from the top of the well, a startled shout escaping his lips before the water threw him onto the streets. Katara stepped forward, leaving Iroh behind her as she came closer to Zuko. Her hands were outstretched as she bent the water from the well, freezing Jet's feet to the ground. She glared at him as he gave her an offended, stunned look. "I told you before, Jet—I won't let you hurt the people I love."

"They're firebenders! I know it How can you stand to help them?!"

Katara opened her mouth, uncertain what to say. Her heart beat quickly and her hand almost trembled with indignant rage. But before she could get a word out, she felt Zuko knock her arm with his own. She glanced to the side and saw him beside her. Immediately, she felt relief begin to calm her. _He's okay_ , she thought. _He and Iroh are fine. We just have to deal with this without making things worse._ Katara still eyed Jet, but she refrained from giving Jet the proof he wanted.

"We're done," Zuko told him.

At that moment, two men in long green robes in conical hats approached them from the crowd. The same people from the customs office, Katara recognized. They definitely appeared as some sort of authority, striding stoically towards them. "We can handle this from here," one of the men said, motioning towards Jet. Katara blinked, exchanging a quick look with Zuko.

"Arrest them, they're firebenders!" Jet said, motioning to Zuko and Iroh. Katara glared at him.

"This poor boy is confused," Iroh said, coming up to them. "We're just simple refugees." Iroh's voice was confident, giving no hint of the truth. Still, he looked more sympathetically upon Jet than anyone else in the crowd. Katara couldn't help but wonder if it was Iroh's general kindness and grace, or if he felt some form of responsibility for accidentally sparking Jet's pursuit of them. Either way, if was more than Jet deserved.

Pao joined in on their complaints, pointing angrily at Jet as he spoke. "This young man wrecked my tea shop, and assaulted my employees!"

"It's true sir, we saw the whole thing," one of the guard from earlier said. "This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city."

"Oh, ho, ho. That's very sweet." Iroh actually blushed from the compliment. Katara would have been happy for him under better circumstances.

"He's been stalking us since we got to Ba Sing Se," Katara told the men. They used gloves made from rock to restrain him, forming stone cuffs around his wrists as he struggled to escape. Katara released him from the ice, allowing the men to take him away.

"You don't understand!" Jet shouted. But the crowd wasn't interested in listening. "They're Fire Nation! You have to believe me!" Finally, as the men dragged Jet away towards a wagon, he returned his gaze to Katara. "Katara, please, tell them the truth! You know I'm not making this up! Please!" Katara could feel the stare of a few of the remaining onlookers, waiting for her to answer. Something in the desperation of his voice gave Katara a sick feeling in her gut. It was technically true that Zuko and Iroh were Fire Nation, after all; Jet wasn't wrong about that. Katara could almost sympathize with him—lying to and harming others wasn't her usual nature.

But Jet's actions had forced her to make a choice. To tell the truth to save the boy who had attacked her loved ones. Or to lie to save her loved ones and condemn Jet in the process.

It was hardly a choice at all.

"He's crazy," Katara said firmly. "Just keep him away from us!" She could see Jet's eyes widen, gleaming with stunned betrayal, as he was placed in the wagon. Katara turned away as the door was closed and the men carted Jet off.

* * *

It was only with years of practice at polite civility that Toph refrained from earthbending Long Feng out of the palace. Still, her patience was leaking out with every word and step. She could feel Suki's heartbeat quickening every so often, increasingly nervous that Long Feng knew who they were, that they would be in trouble at any moment. Toph couldn't help but suspect that he had known who they were the whole time. He had been far too helpful to a pair of lone children without an invitation.

And now they were struggling to shake the creep.

Toph finally managed to give him the slip just as she felt two familiar figures walking into the palace. Toph smirked as she felt Aang and Sokka carrying trays of food. She had told them that they could pass for busboys. Good thinking. At least you two didn't need us to let you in. She came closer to them, an idea coming to her mind as she heard the boys talking to each other.

"Another crab puff, please," she requested in a haughty, fancy tone. She could feel Sokka moving to offer her a crab puff.

"You found us!" Aang said. Toph could hear the happiness in his voice.

"I'd know your little footsteps anywhere, Twinkle Toes," she told him as she went ahead and took one of the offered crab puffs. She felt Suki coming over to them.

"Thanks for letting us in," she heard Sokka say. Suki lightly whacked his arm.

"It's not like we just forgot about you," Suki told him, light irritation in her voice. "But the guy who helped us in here won't leave us alone for two seconds."

"What guy?" Sokka asked. With a jolt, Toph realized that she couldn't feel where Long Feng was. She felt the others looking around the large room they were in. But for all that she could feel, for all that the others could see, Long Feng had disappeared. It should have been a good thing, having one of their handlers gone. But something about that slimy man made Toph think that it was more of a sign of trouble. She felt more certain than before that Long Feng had known exactly who they were. But before she could voice her suspicions, she felt a different familiar (and equally unwelcome) figure walking up to them.

"What are you doing here?" Joo Dee asked them as she came up to them. For once, the unsettling frozen tone of her voice was different. She sounded almost…afraid. "You have to leave immediately, or we will be in terrible trouble!" She tried to push Sokka, trying to force them to leave, but Sokka blocked her with the tray he was still carrying.

"Not until we see the king," he insisted.

"You don't understand," Joo Dee quietly argued. "You must go." With that, she pushed Sokka, knocking him into Aang, who spilled some liquid in the pitcher he'd been carrying.

Right onto one of the party guests, who let out startled exclamation as her robes were soaked.

"Sorry," she heard Aang say, clearly abashed. "No, don't shout!" Top could feel him make an airbending motion, and heard a strong gust of wind blowing against the baffled party guest. Aang was attempting to dry the woman's robes off. Toph couldn't help but think of Aang's fake sneeze when he had come to her house—somehow, she doubted that airbending a robe dry would work out too well. To say nothing of how obviously he had probably just revealed himself. An assessment that was probably right, considering the woman's reaction.

"The Avatar! I didn't know the Avatar would be here," the woman said in awe, loudly enough that everyone around them stopped what they were doing to stare at Aang. She could hear him chuckling nervously. _Nice job, Twinkletoes._

Not that it particularly mattered. She was still sure that Long Feng already knew who they were.

Toph and Suki slipped away as Joo Dee was distracted, resuming their own search for the Earth King. _This is his party_ , she couldn't help but think. _He has to be here. What sort of host doesn't even make an appearance before his guests?_ The feeling that something was terribly wrong only grew.

* * *

Zuko scowled as he helped Pao clean up his tea shop. Around him, Uncle Iroh, Katara, and Pao himself were all busy setting tables straight, cleaning up broken cups, and wiping up tea. They were mostly working in silence, still processing what had happened. Iroh had hugged him, expressing his relief that he was alright—and approving of his restraint in the fight. Pao had been an awkward participant, watching as Zuko handed the dual blades back to the guard whom he had borrowed them from. They had offered a few statements regarding the incident, Katara giving sharp indictments of Jet's actions. Only when that had been done had Pao asked if they would be willing to help clean up his shop. He had been remarkably understanding—though, perhaps that was only because he was still shocked about the night's events. Somehow, Zuko doubted the man had ever had such an experience before.

After giving her own statements, Katara hadn't said a word, quietly going about cleaning the shop.

Zuko paused in cleaning the shards of a cup as he glanced over to Katara. It wasn't normal for her to be so quiet. Zuko wondered what was going through her mind. Was she glad Jet had been taken away? Did she regret speaking against him? _"He's—he's my ex-boyfriend!"_ Something in his gut churned slightly at the memory. But then, she had made it quite clear that Jet wasn't welcome.

Zuko wasn't sure why Katara's bluff had unnerved him so much, anyways.

He let out a huff of breath as he returned to cleaning the shards. They were almost done, and then they could go back to their apartment. There, they could speak openly about what had happened. Perhaps that was why Katara hadn't said anything yet. Still, Zuko couldn't help but worry about her.

Finally, everything was cleaned up, and Pao released a heavy sigh. "You all did good work today," he told them. Zuko crossed his arms. Pao shook his head, raising his hand to his forehead. "I think perhaps we could all use a couple days of rest after this. Please, go home and rest this mess off. Be back in a couple of days…we'll have to earn enough to pay for some new cups." He offered a smile to Iroh. "I suppose it shouldn't be hard, with Mushi's genius."

"Thank you," Iroh said, bowing his head slightly as he smiled. _At least someone's happy._ "We will be back in a few days." He turned and walked out of the door, Katara silently following. Zuko gave a last glance to Pao as he turned.

"I forgot to say congratulations," Pao suddenly said, and Zuko turned back to look at him. "I hadn't realized that you and Katara were together." He offered a small smile. "I wish the two of you good fortune." With that, Pao went into the back room. Zuko just stared for a moment, his mouth dropping slightly as he processed what Pao had said, as well as what Katara had said earlier.

He closed his mouth, walking out the door, and joining his uncle and Katara in the street. Uncle Iroh smiled as he saw him, leading them along the street. Zuko avoided looking at Katara for a few long moments before she turned to him, finally speaking to him for the first time since Jet had attacked. "Is everything okay?" Her bright blue eyes met his own.

Zuko paused for only a moment before he told her, truthfully, "I'm fine. I just want to get back to the apartment." Katara stared for a moment, as though searching for any lie, before she nodded. _"Ever since I got with Li,"_ she had said before the fight. With him. As in together. Zuko looked over to Katara as they walked.

His cheeks felt strangely warm.

* * *

The king had just _finally_ made an appearance when the Dai Li had attacked them. A stone hand had been shot out, covering Toph's mouth, keeping her silent as she was hauled backwards. She had tried to struggle, but her hands were bound quickly, and before she could think to use her feet, her captor spoke in her ear, telling her not to struggle—her friends were already in custody. They were to be released peacefully, but only after Long Feng spoke to them.

She already didn't like this, for too many reasons to keep track of, but she waited in a library with her friends. She could feel Sokka's heart pounding. Fear? No, more like anger. She definitely knew the feeling. Finally, Aang came in, along with Long Feng, who strode past them.

"Why won't you let us talk to the king?" Sokka asked, his patience clearly lost. "We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!" That was the part that was coming to bother Toph. She had long been impartial to the war, sitting it out in the cage of her parents' home. It had never affected her until recently. But now that she'd been out, she was increasingly understanding how much of a menace the Fire Nation had become. How could Long Feng, a person of authority in the Earth Kingdom, be trying to stop them from offering a plan to defeat the Firelord? _Ba Sing Se was attacked just a few days ago, for crying out loud!_

"The Earth King has no time to get involved with political squabbles and the day to day minutia of military activities," Long Feng told them dismissively. Toph listened, trying to understand. The Earth King should be leading. How could he possibly 'not have time' to deal with a major threat to his own kingdom?

"This could be the most important thing he's ever heard," Aang argued.

"What's most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se," Long Feng told them. "All his duties relate to issuing decrees on such matters. It's my job to oversee the rest of the city's resources, including the military." Toph scowled as she processed those words, her apprehensiveness blossomed into angry dread as she understood the truth behind Ba Sing Se's weirdness. She could feel the quickening heartbeats of her friends as they put it together as well.

"Then the king has no actual power," Suki reduced, her voice quiet for once. Kyoshi Island was disconnected from the mainland of the Earth Kingdom, she recalled distantly, and often equally disconnected from the rest of the Earth Kingdom's affairs. Still, the Kyoshi Warrior must have been stunned by the usurpation of power that had, at some point, occurred in the Earth Kingdom capital.

Toph wasn't any happier. "He's your puppet!" she furiously accused Long Feng. How could this have happened? How had the king allowed all power to be taken from him—did he even realize? She thought of her practical imprisonment by her parents. She wondered if the Earth King felt similar, or if he was oblivious to his own status as a puppet king.

Either way, it was abundantly clear that they weren't going to be able to see him.

"Oh, no, no. His Majesty is an icon, a god to his people. He can't sully his hands with the hourly change of an endless war," Long Feng denied, uselessly. Regardless of what he now said, he had already made the truth plain.

Sokka, apparently, was still determined to press the issue of the invasion. "But we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless. You could lead an invasion…"

But Long Feng, apparently, couldn't be reasoned with. He stood up as he spoke. "Enough! I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the War not be mentioned within the walls." Toph grimaced. "Constant news of an escalating war will throw the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a state of panic." _The war_ , Toph thought with growing contempt, _will continue whether you talk about it or not._ "Our economy would be ruined, our peaceful way of life—our traditions—would disappear. In silencing talk of conflict, Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful, orderly utopia: the last one on Earth."

Everyone was silent for a moment as Long Feng's words sunk in.

"You can't keep the truth from everyone like that," finally came Aang's baffled, furious response. He stepped forward, pointing his finger at Long Feng. "I'll tell them! I'll make sure everyone knows!"

Long Feng was unaffected. "Until now, you've been treated as our honored guest." He stepped forward and bent down towards Aang. Toph could feel Aang's heartbeat. It was going quicker than normal, and Toph felt certain that it was because he was angry. For a moment, she almost wondered if he wouldn't go into the Avatar State. It would get them into even more trouble—but then, maybe it would have been worth it to spite Long Feng. Luckily, Aang remained in control as Long Feng continued to speak. "But from now on, you will be watched every moment by Dai Li agents. If you mention the War to anyone, you will be expelled from the city." He turned around and walked back to where he had been before. "I understand you've been looking for your bison, and for your Water Tribe friend." Toph froze, and she could feel the others doing the same. Sokka clenched his fists. "It would be quite a shame if you were not able to complete your quest."

"What have you done to my sister?!" Sokka demanded.

"Nothing so far. It is up to you to ensure that it remains that way," Long Feng threatened, his voice nonchalant. As if he were discussing the weather, rather than threatening the Avatar and his friends. Toph could feel Aang's heartbeat rising. She blew at her bangs before she stepped forward, firmly grasping his hand. As pleasing as attacking Long Feng would be, it was abundantly clear that they couldn't take the risk. _Not right now._ To her relief, Aang made no move, though she practically feel his rising anger. She could only imagine the look on her friend's face. "Now, Joo Dee will show you to your home."

Sokka continued to glare at Long Feng, undoubtedly upset about the threat against his sister. She felt Aang and Suki turn to look at a woman who entered the room. It wasn't Joo Dee—her body shape felt too different to be the same person. "Come with me, please," the new woman said in the same eerie tone as Joo Dee.

"Uh, who are you?" Suki asked. She sounded unsettled.

"I'm Joo Dee," the woman said. Toph grimaced. "I'll be your host as long as you're in our wonderful city." Top felt Aang looking towards her, and she shook her head. They followed the new Joo Dee out of the room, being taken out of the palace. They were quiet, processing all that had happened, all that they had learned. I guess the invasion plan isn't going anywhere, she thought with stifled irritation. But we still need to find Appa and Katara.

"You know," she said to Aang as they left the palace. "I think this may be the worst city ever."

Frankly, that was too polite of a description.

* * *

It felt later than it actually was when Zuko, Katara, and Uncle Iroh made it back to their apartment. They entered the apartment silently. Uncle Iroh turned to them.

"It's been a long day," he acknowledged, looking at the two teenagers sympathetically. "All things considered, I think you both handled yourselves quite well." He offered Zuko a smile. Why couldn't my own father ever smile like that? "I'm going to make us a pot of calming jasmine tea before we go to bed." With that, he went to their counter, readying a small fire, the pot, and the chosen tea.

Zuko could hardly bring himself to argue.

While waiting for a few minutes, he moved to sit closer to Katara. She had remained quiet. She looked up as he sat near her, though. She offered a small smile, and he tried to return it. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Her smile slipped in a slight frown for a moment. "Of course," she said. "I'm fine. Why?"

Zuko grimaced, shrugging slightly. "You've been kind of quiet, and I thought that was kind of weird." Katara raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you usually like to talk a lot." He grimaced. "And I thought maybe something was wrong. Because of what happened with Jet."

"What happened with Jet was his own fault," Katara told him. Her voice was sharper than usual, and Zuko thought that something in her eyes was a bit strange. "You did the right thing."

Zuko frowned, looking down as he tried to understand. "What about you?" he asked. Katara only frowned. "Do you think you did the right thing?"

She paused for a noticeably long moment. "I think I did the only thing I could do. Betraying you and Uncle Iroh wasn't a real option." Zuko couldn't help but smile a bit. _If nothing else_ , he thought, _at least we were thrown together._ It was so strange to think of how much Katara had become a part of his life. But he was glad she was.

He let out a breath, refocusing as he tried to understand Katara's behavior. "You still seem upset about something."

"Jet attacked us. Of course I'm upset."

"But that's over, and nobody was hurt." He frowned, trying to reach into his own mind to understand what Katara was feeling. "Are you sure you don't regret lying for us? Jet might be in a lot of trouble now."

"It was the right thing to do," Katara insisted, speaking louder now.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't have done it," Zuko said, raising his hands a bit. "I'm just saying, maybe you feel bad for throwing him to the tiger-wolves to protect us." Katara let out an indignant huff, glaring at him slightly. Zuko felt his cheeks warming up as he grimaced. _That didn't come out right_ , he thought.

"The tea is ready," Uncle Iroh said, offering them each a cup of tea. Katara wordlessly took the offered tea, and left the room.

"What happened?" Iroh asked quietly, as he sat across from Zuko and gave him a cup of tea.

Zuko let out a breath. "I tried to make her feel better," he said, and took a sip of the calming tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, maybe this shouldn't be merged with the previous chapter. Meh, we'll see.  
> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this.  
> I may or may not end up participating in Zutara week. I'm still trying to throw some short fics up for that, but the past week has been really busy and next week will probably be the same.  
> I also started working a little bit on one of the AU fics I mentioned. This fic is still my priority, though.

**Author's Note:**

> I will warn everyone right now that I tend to have long intervals of not working on projects for various reasons, though I fully intend to finish this fic.  
> By the way, I have created a Tumblr profile.  
> https://eternitysword.tumblr.com/  
> I'll be posting stuff relating to my fanfics, among other things. I may also put out some stuff relating to my original fiction projects. If you like my fanfiction, maybe you'll enjoy some of my original work, which I hope to publish someday.


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